Chipped Tooth
It starts as a small chip
The corner of my front tooth
Like a scab that needs picking
My fingers Pied Piper across my face
Stop it, leave it alone
You’ll only make it worse
Hamelin rats gnaw at my thoughts
Teeth sink into greyish matters
Bites into a cog, changing torque
Can no longer talk
The tune on the magic pipe stops
Silence with no words
The teeth on the cogs jam
The thoughts follow the words
Silence is sharp in my head
And on my bitter tongue
Been down this road before
Cut my teeth on the memories
I know I must keep walking
Look for a fork in the road
The Piper’s followers
Listen to the distant melody
And take the left path
My thoughts travel alone
My brain kicks into gear
Skipping over the damage
A full tooth now missing
Not long before it jams again
Sarah Marie Graye is a Ph.D. candidate on the University of Kent’s Contemporary Novel: Practice as Research programme. Her research focuses on identity, trauma, and memory. Alongside her Ph.D. project, Sarah Marie produces work in other written/creative forms, including poetry, personal essays, and film.
