SILENT RITUAL

Side by side
we scrub our incisors

Staring at our live
portrait in the bathroom
mirror

You spend extra time
on the left molars
tilting your head
with delight

And then the right side

I’m doing laps
with the bristles
front, side, side,
open wide for the
tops of the teeth

but I want to watch
you, want to learn
how you learned
your way

Your polishing slows,
you swish

I’m already rinsing
my brush