Dental

She grinds her teeth when she sleeps,

Rubbing her tongue over the edges, 

Feeling the uneven daggers and stubs,

All that remains,

Told, they only pay for extractions,

No preventive care, 

Poor people can have rotten teeth,

Infected gums, 

It is not about pain,

No prevention, 

Only cost saving measures from people, 

“They don’t know how we regular people live”,

Told, they only cover them,

Once a decade,

Figured by then they are betting,

You will be dead long before that time ever comes.

JOE MITCHELL is a writer from Newfoundland, Canada. His poems and stories have been published online and in print. He can be reached on Instagram @Booksaredeadly