REHEARSING DYING.

A BOY IN 1950S EIRE GOING TO THE DENTIST.

Colin remembered the green
Of the dentist’s door; he
Remembered it from the time
Before, the brass handle, the

Knots in the wood, the smell
Of fresh paint, gas and the
Dentist’s peppermint breath
Leaning over him, his large

Looming eyes through thick
Lens peering at him. Uncle
Had been left in the waiting
Room with other people and

Magazines, dying for a cigarette,
Remembering his own last time
There having his final teeth
Removed before the false teeth

Came. Colin tried to be brave,

Recalling his mother’s words,
If you’re good, brave, and don’t
Cry, I’ll tell Donal to get you

A comic and a large green apple.
Open the mouth wide, the dentist
Said. Colin obliged and opened
Up, stretching the jaw until it

Ached, gazing up the dentist’s
Nose, looming just above a huge
Moustache like two small caves
Holding darkness, a solitary hair

Hanging from one side, greying,
Curling just to the left. The smell
Of the peppermint breath filtered
Down to him, the black gasmask

Coming down, the dental nurse
Lingering, staring, her mouth
Drawn tight into a slit, and Colin
Hearing their voices fading away

As he slipped down into the dark
Caves of the dentist’s nose, and
The all too embracing deathlike
Blackness of the inside of his head

As if he were rehearsing his future
Dying, playing a game of being dead.

Reviews

[just rose.]

Amazing. The last stanza being my very favorite, the small details exquisite. And gets into the mind of the child really well. And God I have spent so much time myself in that damn chair, you tell it like it is.