that night
my teeth
came loose
in their sockets

that night
after the terror
my teeth
came loose in their sockets

that night
i sat
with a stranger
drinking tea
until dawn
in the brightly lit kitchen
of hell

we hid behind
cynical
ragged
raging
jokes
to lighten the load

‘my teeth
have come loose
in their sockets’
i told her

‘stress can do that’
she said

the next day
they had tightened again
and i was ready to bite