They warn me about rumination
I’ve lost a filling, It is gaping when I run my tongue across the bottom of my upper teeth But barely discernible when I smile. When I tell my brother, the dentist to be, over the phone in a panic he tells me “you really need to stop grinding your teeth.” It is a terrible thing to be reminded Of the teeth that used to gnash beside me some nights I run the tip of my tongue around what was there, accounting for the loss. I know the rumination will lead to irritation. I’ve tried to replace, swallow the words. But they work their way out, beneath the grooves of my teeth. One must learn how to grin and bear the silence.