teeth jail

throw away the key. i will eat
with my eyes. pay an application fee
to look at the moon. they say it is withering
with each poet's glance. that we must conserve it. 
soon we will run out of metaphors
& we will have to start screaming.
i had a past lover, who, when in grief,
would walk out to the gnarled woods
at the edge of campus & shout
into the trees. you would imagine that
the animals would run but instead 
they shouted with him until everything
was raw & red. in fifth grade they removed
six of my teeth. i wanted to swallow them.
let them turn into steps inside my chest.
i am building a staircase to see you. i am
opening the windows & letting the ghosts out.
i am so glad we got rid of the curtains. i used
to love them. now everything is bright.
my teeth were too crowded. they still are.
it is mostly because i lost a retainer
when i was little & then i refused 
to get my wisdom teeth out. if they 
are going to be shackled i want to be 
the one. one day they will have all fallen out
& i can plant them in the yard. grow a teeth tree
& no one will ever be in prison again.
a laugh from the sun. i will spend the rest
of my life trying to convince my beloveds
that we can be free. i feed the windowsill.
i sweep hay from the floor. slip the turnstile. 
this is my snake garden. this is our moon.