Wary is the Head that Needs a Crown
Last Monday my front tooth crown broke
when I chomped down
on a healthy stick of celery.
Sadly, the small white crown that for years
had shielded the tooth to the right of my
incisors, tumbled out in pieces
from between my lips onto a napkin.
I told my dentist that I doubted our
health insurance would cover as “accident,”
replacement due to “encounter with a celery stick.”
He laughed at that idea, but
after I told him the failed crown
had been slipped over that too small canine
fifty-seven years ago, he said,
“I’m amazed! Your new crown,
will likely only last fifteen.”
I made an appointment.
So, three weeks from yesterday
my aging teeth will continue their
journey with a new porcelain passenger.
Until then, all eating must proceed warily.
I am pampering that tiny, now naked, tooth
by cutting my food into small pieces
to reduce its biting duties.
After the royal crown is placed, I’ll
carefully enjoy chomping again,
with my aged, weary, 77-year-old teeth wondering
which will last longer--me or my new crown?
Discovering a Wasp Gathering Pollen from My Hibiscus Flower
I leaned forward to snap
a photo of that year’s first
glorious red hibiscus petals
spreading open amid green
leaves in our front porch pot.
I’d not heard a buzz
so I was surprised the sight--
a yellow and black striped
creature gathering pollen
from the heart of my hibiscus.
No worries, I thought.
Bees are always welcome.
Then the creature turned.
Not a bee! A wasp!
Stinger pointed right at me.
This creature whose life was
bent on stinging, harming
was trying to rob the hibiscus pollen
from neighbouring bees prevent
from a close encounter with its beauty.
However, since he was armed,
I stepped back, hoping he’d leave.
He buzzed in triumph but then,
even as I considered ways to evict
him from the bloom,
I realized beauty belongs to all—
even unexpected, even undesired,
visitors, even those who come
masqueraded in friendly colors
and left him to enjoy our sweet hibiscus.
Joan Leotta is a writer and Story Performer whose tooth is now crowned!
She misses her hibiscus but is otherwise glad to be back in Fairfax VA, near family. When not chained to her keyboard she gives folklore performance and a one-woman show presenting Louisa May Alcott, Author, Civil War Nurse, and seamstress.
Author, Story Performer
“Encouraging words through Pen and Performance”
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