Maybe the tooth’s name was Glitter.
the first time the tooth went missing
a controversy surrounded it
the controversy prevented supplies from entering
and all calls for help from exiting
there was no nourishment
it was a siege
it was impervious to the forces of gravity
a little bit of radiation escaped each day
the controversy was a black hole
the tooth was so lost
the tooth could not get directions
all of a sudden a plane erupted from the black hole
the tooth was still lost and was now also confused
the black hole where the tooth used to be
grew bloody with pools
the black hole swallowed the plane back up again
the plane was a newer model
the plane was painted a special color
all of the copies of skymall onboard the plane were glossy
all of the copies of skymall onboard the plane were full of glitter
maybe the tooth’s name was glitter
the tooth thought it remembered a landmark
it could not remember where
it could not would not
then it saw the landmark
then the black hole swallowed the landmark
then the black hole burped glitter
glitter was getting everywhere
the black hole was shimmering like some kind of star
all the copies of skymall had special discounts on name-a-star
the tooth thought it was a star
the tooth was very lost
radiation was getting everywhere
a little bit of glitter escaped each day
a star was falling from inside the pages of all the copies of skymall
maybe the star’s name was glitter
it could not would not
the tooth was so lost
the black hole grew blacker with pools
the star was still falling
it kept falling and falling
Ben Pelhan is a London-based American. His poems have appeared in Spork, Diagram, Black Warrior Review and elsewhere. He founded Line Assembly, a poetry tour and documentary (in post-production). You can follow @benpelhan on Instagram if you want to see pics of his dog and the occasional random London elephant sighting.
