On the radio I hear about George Washington’s teeth.
A guest says what do you think his teeth were and a host
says wood. I’ve read about Waterloo teeth, how we prowled
battlefields, plucked teeth from young French corpses,
wired them up to make fresh rich people mouths.I figure we’re about to learn the founding father’s teeth
were from his soldiers. But it’s worse than that: slave teeth.
I post this on Facebook, asking what might the reparations
be for having your teeth pulled, having to see your teeth
every day in your owner’s stupid mouth. Melodie posts a comic
from The Oatmeal: this is old news, the slave teeth thing, also
that people LOSE THEIR MINDS denying it. She posts
the comic and we watch the losing of minds unfold.
He had a wooden tooth (teeth). . . zero slave teeth,
some stranger says, calls me stupid cunt on my dad’s page.
My DAD. Zero slave teeth. No innocents on death row. No
lynchings, not all men. Everybody crying rape, not all slave
owners were bad. Sally Hemmings? In love. Three hots
and a cot. Must be nice! FREEDOM FREEDOM USA!
Three-time Pushcart prize winner Jill McDonough is the recipient of Lannan, NEA, Cullman Center, and Stegner fellowships. Her most recent book is Reaper (Alice James, 2017); Here All Night, her fifth collection, is forthcoming from Alice James Books. She teaches in the MFA program at UMass-Boston and directs 24PearlStreet, the Fine Arts Work Center online.
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