I don’t have a clue
How to transform violence
My original thought was
I don’t have a fucking clue
But that seemed too violent
For this poem reverie

I remember a few years ago
Lying in the dentist chair
Instruments, lights,
Masked technician
Looming over me
Violently looming over me

Does a dental technician
Ever feel non-violent
With whirring instruments
In someone’s mouth
Chipping away at
Hard earned plaque
Through the blood and spittle

I remember telling myself
Breathe in calm
Breathe out fear
Breathe in quiet
Breathe out anxiety
Breathe in peace
Breathe out terror

Then I stopped
And would have laughed
Except laughter is as impossible
As speech
Lying back in a dentist chair
Bright light overhead
Masked technician looming
And scraping away inside your mouth
I have GOT to brush more regularly
Because I know after the pain
Will come the lecture
No lollipop for me

But I digress
I stopped breathing out
Anxiety, fear and terror
Because this thought came to me
The world has enough
Anxiety, fear and terror
The least I can do is
Hold onto my own