Dental Records

Dental Records 

Being is superior to nothingness
Unless the former hurts too much
And you, you’re from Los Angeles
Your mother was an immigrant
Her father forced
To wear the star — wore one inches
From his heart — for just a few years
And your dentist
Who saw every moon as a tooth
Survived the war years, too
Unlike his parents — who died
In Utah, in concentration camps
They never returned to Riverside
Dr. Harada, off the 405

Elliot Sperber is a writer, attorney, and adjunct professor. He lives in New York City and can be reached at elliot.sperber@gmail.com and on twitter @elliot_sperber