NO WORDS THROUGH BLUE TEETH

She refused to eat birthday cake
iced in blue
for fear her teeth would lose their luster.
Too proud to wear blue teeth
in her first public reading,
she watched the rest of us
risk discoloration.
Right, she was.
We all spewed words through blue.
She could not take center stage
with teeth unlike other folks,
covered her mouth,
and passed when it came her turn,
longing too late for blue
in words of a birthday cake.

© Harding Stedler


Commentary:

At a writers' conference in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, an elaborately-decorated birthday cake sat on the speakers' table waiting to be cut during the opening session. The dark blue icing gave the cake an especially regal look.

During one of our breaks, the honoree was invited to cut the cake so the rest of us could share in the celebration. Marcia, a dear poet-friend of mine, declined. She did not want blue teeth. During the reading that followed, everyone but Marcia had blue teeth, and she was the one who stood out in the crowd, more conspicuous than ever, because her teeth were white.

Harding Stedler
Bonfire contributor