Glen Armstrong

The Tooth

Times were hard. We had one tooth between us. Grandpa wanted to eat corn. Sister wanted to smile at a boy.
 
After Mother and Father pawned the radio, I stayed up late at the window, listening for the stray dogs that our town was known for. I longed for howling and barking. Of course, I craved the canine. There was a whole nocturnal world out there sinking fang into meat. Threatening and surviving. Baring itself.
 
 
 
Glen Armstrong (he/him) holds an MFA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and edits a poetry journal called Cruel Garters. His latest book is Night School: Selected Early Poems.