Elizabeth Alford

I Had My Wisdom Teeth Out Last Week

The last thing I remember is saying
“This nitrous smells like Froot Loops”
once the unnerving mask was anchored
to my face, the sweet gas filling my lungs
and veins with a rare flirtatious happiness,

and how the surgeon—whose frosted
stubble hit just below the mountain peaks
of his cheek bones—cracked a crescent smile,
bent low like a lover looking for a kiss,
and in his winter-soft accent breathed lightly
into my ear: “Just follow your nose.”

Elizabeth Alford (Hayward, CA) is a voracious carbnivore who has also been known to eat her own words. See more of her work @ Facebook.com/ElizabethAlfordPoetry