Wolf Teeth

I had dream last night where we swapped teeth

And I found myself cutting my tongue on your sharp canines

Wondering how you dealt with the pain

You laughed at the blood dripping from my lips

Like a laugh track on TV, like it wasn’t coming from you

It hurt my feelings

It hurt my cheeks

I asked to trade back after dinner, in your mother’s kitchen

With the cheap linoleum under foot

You denied me, you smiled

With flat teeth and no sores

My jaw ached at the sight

At the twitch of your lips

My teeth in your mouth

And your’s jammed in mine

I woke up with a migraine

And my back teeth ground down

I had to call my dentist

I had to take a pill

You were in the kitchen, sipping coffee from a 90 cent mug

We bought at a Goodwill off the highway

Featuring a cartoon dog smoking a cigarette

I took you by jaw like I was holding a newspaper

Between my pointer finger and thumb

And massaged all the places I knew must be hurting

You looked at me like I was crazy

But you didn’t grab my hand

The dog finished its cigarette

You bit your tongue

My headache didn’t go away

***

Atticus Combs is a young queer poet with a love for Southern Gothic and body horror.