Five Minutes

Dentist appointments cause me to linger, Someplace betwixt dread and the blackness, Fright’s version of despair, Wistful and aching with silent prayers, Silent, silence, soundless – still, All the reasons, the responses, the requisites, For those hours, endless times Spent, losing my mind, With mouth opened to oblige Fingers pressed against my gums, Forcing the enemy’s needles, Taste of lidocaine, breathing in and out, Through expanded nostrils, Urgent moments, flooded with apprehension, Distracted by the metal instruments, Dreadful apparatuses, Some intended to scrap at my enamel, Pick at my fangs, Some meant to dislodge roots, Extract a tooth, - a part of me, A portion of my flesh, my body, Buried deep in my gums, Where silent forces sing of dark horrors, Will this dentist ever finish? It seems like I’ve been in this chair for hours, Looking at my watch…. Can it have only been five minutes!?!