2013: Turkey in My Teeth

When you are ten, and you know everything

and your brother annoys you with songs that he sings

while your parents remind you of too many things

like to clean up your room and to tie your shoe strings…

Well, ten isn’t really the worst of all places—

I have lots of friends and their smiling faces

remind me there’s more to life than just shoelaces.

For this is the time when we’re all getting… braces.

First came the expander, a big piece of metal,

in the roof of my mouth it decided to settle

like a torture device out of ‘Hansel and Gretel,’

it stretched out my jaw like a flower with petals.

And now I’ve got wires and brackets and bands,

and I wonder how someone like me understands

so much about life and its many demands

and yet not these cruel orthodontical plans.

If you’ve ever had braces, well then you will know

there’s lots of small places where food tends to go

and flashing a smile could rapidly show

a meal that you ate several hours ago.

I brush and I use the occasional floss,

I try to show leftovers just who’s the boss,

I’m doing my best with this steel albatross,

but truly some foods leave me just at a loss.

Corn on the cob is right off of the list,

and gum is another I’ve already missed.

So too I must add, as the knife gets a twist,

that movies with popcorn have ceased to exist.

But now as we land at the day of Thanksgiving,

when food in abundance describes easy living,

I frankly admit to my share of misgivings

about just which foods I’ll be shortly reliving.

The rolls should be fine, and the cranberry relish,

but light meat and dark will my braces embellish—

I’ll wake up on Friday and smell a bad smellish

and that’s surely something we all would find hellish!

When this phase is done and my braces are gone,

my brother will still be just singing his songs,

and I’ll still know everything, like all along,

but my teeth will be perfectly straightened and strong.

And so in the mean time I send you a wish

as you sit down to gobble your favorite dish

with friends and with family and food so delish:

Be well… and remember to gargle and swish!

Louisa, age 10, Knower of Everything