In the Dentist's Chair

IN THE DENTIST’S CHAIR Lean back and just relax Put on these protective glasses please Injection - this will not hurt at all He says in fluent dentist-speak Man with goggles and mask like an alien Probing me like an insect aboard a UFO God I‘m starving - no breakfast Oh , from the x-ray looks like We need a couple of fillings And It was cornflakes and fried eggs and bacon I’m afraid it will cause some discomfort But just relax I look at the legs of his pretty assistant for comfort I was afraid to come here at all Delayed coming Coward for pain in dentist’s chair Put off and put off six months, till now - April is the cruellest month* Month of early cherries from Spain And lettuce from the greenhouse And a cucumber salad upon a table in the garden Like a patient etherized upon a table* As the alien probes my molars And asks me about football on tv last night Oh for a melon big as a football right now Sold by the shop on the corner where the woman Is so full-figured....watch her as she gives Cucumber to another customer Yes a bit of voyeurism sometimes is fun Dental assistant’s legs show nice muscles As she reaches up tip-toed for a tall Pile of green plastic rinse-cups Rather similar to a cucumber I try to answer the football alien With a mouth full of metal I stutter and garble out a reply and the alien uh-huh s Disinterested interest as they say She looks into my face, concerned, and I am flattered But she only sees my horrible decayed tooth Unconcerned concern Now spit, and again, rinse, spit I am helpless like a beetle on its back Wearing plastic goggles Use this tissue She’s so helpful, like mother Don’t eat for six hours even if you have a good appetite Oh those melons….appetite I am a man of appetites No ! I am not Leopold Bloom nor was meant to be* My appetites are mostly for learning, for humor, for sorrow, But maybe a melon tomorrow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NOTE *These lines are quotes from T S ELIOT and J JOYCE, both masters of the stream of consciousness technique.