A sudden surge of boys <br />with their smiles punched out, <br />care of a local Tough Man contest. <br />It was all I needed <br />in that slow slug of an economy <br />to land on the pillow <br />of some poor jerk <br />with a mouthful of teeth <br />knocked out of his silly head. <br /> <br />It was early Autumn <br />and my hands were full <br />with the usual slew <br />of pimpled teenagers <br />plagued with gingivitis, <br />long evenings of haunting <br />nursing homes, hovering <br />gloriously over deathbeds, waiting <br />for the eternity of rotten teeth <br />to wiggle from black gums. <br /> <br />Let me be the first to tell you, <br />a welfare line is no place for a fairy. <br />Here, I’m just another dreg <br />living from check to check, <br />getting high on generic beer, <br />growing fat on government cheese, <br />my pretty feet sick to death <br />from standing in line. <br /> <br />These days, I’m up to my eyes <br />in food stamps. I pawned <br />my wings for a double-wide <br />with a California King, <br />spend my nights cruising <br />soup kitchens, crashing weddings. <br />All the magic has fizzled out <br />of my silver wand, my diamond <br />slippers have lost their shine.<br /><br />Chris Tusa<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-tooth-fairy-on-welfare/
