teeth offering

driving back from the dentist today
 I saw an eagle in the. sky
then  realized it was a vulture

he didn't charge me for the X-rays
to soften the blow
of the bad news

I never had that nightmare
the one where all your teeth fall out

my mother once put a hex on a co-worker
she paid with a tooth
told me not to dabble in the dark arts
because it comes back three fold

I listened
but it doesn't matter
the dead are taking me 
tooth by tooth
robbing my sleep
this is how vampires
are born

that vulture has his eye on me
crows scream at me every morning
the bread offering
​wasn't enough

I will have to save my lost teeth
do some weird shaman shit
in the woods or the sea

in a past life
I must have murdered someone
now I have to sage the house
until it burns down

I dream of rodents
body parts missing
a life collecting the trash
that others leave behind

I kneel in the dark
offer my teeth
my empty uterus
my macheted heart

what will you give me in return?