what does the tooth fairy do with all our teeth?

i have heard rumors
she builds a castle--
sack of teeth--
brick & mortar--
wall on wall on  
wall-- she never gets
any sleep-- she is
always listening--
that muffled
careful sound of
tooth slid
beneath pillow--
tiny snap of
tendon & vein--
like feet walking
through forest brush--
twig-snap--
another tooth
falls without making
a sound--
she often
lingers there--
by a child's bedside
in the hopes they will
wake up  
& see her--
she knows she's supposed
to be secretive
but it's so lonely
building a castle
all for herself--
bag after bag of
teeth stacked row
on row--
she touches a child's
forehead
with the back of her
hand
she says 
come with me
& we'll be faeries 
together--
she doesn't mean it of
course-- 
she's just pretending--

when i was seven &
a half
i prayed 
to the tooth fairy
& i still wonder if
she heard me --
i woke in the middle
of the night-- mouth 
metallic blood-tasting--
i poked around with 
my tongue to find 
my wiggly tooth gone--
i looked under my pillow--
in my bed sheets--
on the speckled carpet
with no luck--
i sat up-- covers pulled
to my neck crying
for this lost tooth--
i ran my hand side to
side & said a tiny
prayer to  her--
i didn't ask for
the tooth fairy money
or even for my tooth
back-- i asked for her--
i asked if maybe i
could just see her so
that i could know she 
was real--
i imagined her walking
along my dresser-- 
swinging from a coat-hanger 
& landing on my pillow--
i smiled at this notion--
& there she was looking
over me-- a 
backpack full of teeth 
slung over one shoulder--
she sat there in the windowsill
feeling the cool 
january wind nip at
her wings-- she sighs
as she hears another
tooth 
slide under a pillow
she looks
my molar she swiped
while i was busy
mourning 
the emptiness 
in my mouth-- 
she observes the
tooth in
blueish moon-light--
rubs her thumb
over parchment-colored
smooth surface--
she ponders briefly what kind
of food i ate --
grilled cheese at 
Basin Street Tavern--
chicken fingers & 
banana bread & steel 
bowls full of rinsed 
blueberries-- 
she drops the tooth
in with the others--
she waits for me
to fall asleep before
sauntering 
out of my bed room--
she brushes 
a tear off my cheek 
& kisses my forehead
she promises me
i'm real i'm real
i'm real 
& in the morning
there is no 
quarters & there
is still a hole
in  my mouth & 

far away in some
place neither heaven
or earth
she kneels down--
picks my tooth
out of her bag &
set it in line-- 
another wall
of her 
great empty 
castle-- 
she feels as 
if the whole
structure is chewing
her-- gulping down
her thin body--
she is 
a bowl of
blueberries--
she sleeps on
a warm flat
tongue--