I guess I can accept the idea
that a fairy takes your baby teeth
and leaves you some coins
as fair trade.
But what I want to know
is what does she do with those teeth?
Does she make jewelry from them?
Macabre earrings, say, or lumpy necklaces
which she then sells at Saturday Market?
Or does she crush them
into a fine calcium powder
to help push away
the pixie version of osteoporosis?
Or maybe she fashions tiny dice
from all those canines and bicuspids
to use on casino night at the enchanted meadow.
This whole disturbing business
of trafficking in body parts,
well, it just troubles me a little,
thinking how the young
are made unwitting partners
to strange practices
they are not equipped to understand.
About the Author: Mario Milosevic’s poems have appeared in many print and online journals, and in the anthology Poets Against the War. He lives in Washington State, where he works as a small town librarian. He has published two collections of poems, Animal Life and Fantasy Life.
Copyright © 2002 by Mario Milosevic. The poem first appeared in Asimov's SF (2002) and may not be reproduced in any form without the author's express written permission.