Psalm 23

I count Teeth to encounter Sleep- 
Tongue herding Calcium.  
A defense against, 
My Body— 
     Without Sway 
My body— 
      Depraved of its Compulsions; 
Convulsions: 
       Stimming, Shaking, Chomping.
Crouched in Pearly-White Sheets
Limbs with Toothache all over.
My body— 
       Who once knew REM by the cradle… 
My body— 
        now Shepherded by blue light.  

I count Teeth in an attempt to Sleep
Whatever remains behind my Gums,
Or the Scum that coats my Tastebuds. 
        But despite my G-dless Psalm;
        My Molars are Wanting, Countless and Coveting.
        Led astray by E133.  
        They walk into the Valley of Darkness 
        Egyptian Bruised and Impinged upon. 
        Wander into the Shadow of Death.  
        They Fear Evil  
        and the Stench of my Rotted Breath.  
        By refusing thy Cane,  
                   Thy Rod,  
                    Thy Staff,  
              They are Devoured.  
        By a pack of Forty Howling Cavities  
        Carnivorous holes; who feast on the flesh of my Enamel. 
Thy Predator is not Decay,    
But Neglect.  

At Night… 
I pray to you Heavenly Dentist  
Flossing in Curly Strand Reverence. 
I ask you to Admonish the nights I let my toothbrush wither.  
I beg for Pearly-Wise Redemption 
Bite my Sleeves in Tattered Exaltation. 
Chomp my nails in Devotion  
Repent for My Oral Fixations, 
Those Lovelorn Notions 
that assault my brain before Sleep. 
The Pink, Slobbered Temples– 
That cause me to suck in my Cheeks, 
So as not to disturb  
his pleasure-filled Prayer. 

At Morning… 
I brush my Fangs. 
Gritty Reverence,  
Minty Fervour. 
I recite Tehillim on the Highway. 
To prepare for the Flagellation  
of their Gleaming and 
the Bite for my Place that 
weakens me.  
And the Whitening of my Smile. 
I wish I saved my Lip Balm 
For Faith Without Fanaticism.  
I wish I knew then that a Kiss,  
would not be their Saviour.  

I brush my Teeth,  
An attempt of Discipline before Sleep. 
When the last Gum forms a Minyan.  
I Dream of Uncapped Soaring  
& Plaque(s) of Adoration. 
I float Unfeathered,  
                 untethered.  
No bands to strap my Brace 
Or Act as Brake. 
In my Dreams… 
**Only, in my Dreams. 
My wings are a Smiles Expanse.  
The sky is not Above but Around.   
My psalms don’t stop the crash of the Highway. 
The Clocks take on Dalí’s physique.  
I cannot pull the Present and Past apart. 
There is nothing to measure the passing of moments 
As I fly. 
And so I count Teeth.  
To mark Time. 
Incisor past a Canine, 
the Remaining Molars of Sleep…  
        5,  
                        4, 
                                       3,  
                                                        2.  
                                                                       1 

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