Poetry

Body Parts

Why Not?

I shouldn’t be so surprised.

I’ve lost body parts before.

Back when I was a wee girl, when everything was magical and parents and teachers and grandparents all romanticized about tooth fairies.

Faces lit up when they saw my naked gums where just before a baby tooth lived.

It was a rite of passage, losing those teeth. An accomplishment, rewarded with coins and candy.

So, why now, does losing a breast not get rewarded?

Why do we not light up when someone says, “I lost my breast today,” and then there’s a breast fairy who brings you a new Mazda Miata convertible as a reward.

It would make the whole ordeal so much easier and fun. Something to look forward to. I just don’t want anyone to ask me if I want to keep it.

The boob.

So now, here I am in the dentist’s chair. She pulls two teeth and I feel only mourning for the lost body parts as time passes

and I watch my body parts leave me.

And the dentist asks me with a smile in her voice —

“would you like to save them for the tooth fairy?”

And I graciously reply, “oh, no thank you.”

On my way out of the office, I bend over and look at those bloody teeth, and say

“Wow, are they ever ugly.”

And walk out the door.

© Susan Brearley, 2021 All Rights Reserved

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Susan B. is a serial entrepreneur, writer, editor, poet and ship captain. Come find her in the Garden.