Sinned

had a dream about my teeth falling out again

but the dream was not mine

it is a common dream

a common phenomenon

plenty of us had our teeth shattered, torn, cracked,

falling through the foundations of our mouths as we hissed

in anguish,


I felt I would accidentally swallow them.

last night, they were abnormally large


I looked down upon them on my palms


and felt the weight of them against the world.

a derailing feeling


like I just extracted a bone from my body

to watch it disintegrate outside


to know that

I grew that


and get that


it’s not that

ground-breaking


to anyone else, but me

and so I weep for them


and bury them


with the previous ones

that shattered, upon impact.

and I give them one last grin

(sorry to keep you)


(sorry to wake you)

(sorry to make and break you)

forgive me, for I have

by Yulin Huang