Intimations of Mortality <br />on being told by the dentist that this will be over soon <br /> <br />Indeed, it will soon be over, I shall be done <br />With the querulous drill, the forceps, the clove-smelling cotton. <br />I can go forth into fresher air, into sun, <br />This narrow anguish forgotten. <br /> <br />In twenty minutes or forty or half an hour, <br />I shall be easy, and proud of my hard-got gold, <br />But your apple of comfort is eaten by worms, and sour. <br />Your consolation is cold. <br /> <br />This will not last, and the day will be pleasant after. <br />Ill dine tonight with a witty and favorite friend. <br />No doubt tomorrow I shall rinse my mouth with laughter. <br />And also that will end. <br /> <br />The handful of time that I am charily granted <br />Will likewise pass, to oblivion duly apprenticed. <br />Summer will blossom and autumn be faintly enchanted. <br />Then time for the grave, or the dentist. <br /> <br />Because you are shrewd, my man, and your hand is clever, <br />You must not believe your words have a charm to spell me. <br />There was never a half of an hour that lasted forever. <br />Be quiet. You need not tell me.<br /><br />Phyllis McGinley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/intimations-of-mortality/
