root canal

ice sliding from the roof

crashes down

on Broad Street slush

sucks at your boots

Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber

brings in crowds at the Merriam

I never cared much for

Broadway musicals, still less

for the soft rock on the radio

as I sit in the endodontist's chair

pondering the X-rays of my molars

blown up on the flat screen

as though reviewing a misspent life

while I wait

the dentist and her assistant

converse in code:

"2-3-6-10-3-3" "ok"

"18-18-22-18-22"

my dentist has brown eyes and

peers down at me anxiously

like my mother