The first President of the United States owned slaves
& although he did release them upon his death
while he was alive he would take their teeth
& attempted to graft them into his gums
undergoing bold & radical surgery
even by today’s standards
It is doubtful that anyone willingly
had their teeth pulled
not even for old George Washington
whose discomfort can be seen in photographs yellowed & cracked
like the wooden dentures making his face pucker in pain
as if sucking on a lemon or trying chewing tobacco
Just as the mouths of slaves puckered around tong
& pliers, trying not to scream while they suffered
egregious indignity and barbarism, to have teeth
harvested only to see them go to waste