Vanessa Napolitano lives in Yorkshire with her husband and daughter and way too many stuffed unicorns. Her recent publications can be found in 'Free Verse Revolution II', and the anthology 'Songs of Love & Strength'. Her favourite soda is probably cream soda - she used to say pop, but spent a long time in America and switched.
VANESSA NAPOLITANO
PULL YOUR OWN TEETH
In this time are they saying we should pull our own teeth?
Not, as we cut our own hair, origami our own wings, clean our own tiles,
but sharply, quickly, for the greater good, slam what offends us
like a door. Make ourselves yank out the root.
In this time of pulling out our own hair,
I dream of mowing my lawn like a competent human,
I pluck out strands of protein loops, I lasso things at a granular level,
I cannot get the fucking weeds up.
In this time of weed blossom,
I cry great catalysts of salt water and it leaves migraine shadows
where catharsis should be.
My bones throb along the paths of my face.
In this time of grinding teeth, bone-meet-bone,
my bare hand spades at hard soil to get something done
and call it work. Only call it work in an emergency.
Only yank out the root.