The Postmodern Mouth

Andre Peltier

Leaning its great head back, 
the Earth readies itself 
for yet another extraction. 
Molar after molar, 
wisdom teeth 
and incisors, 
one by one, 
we pull them all. 
The noble mandibles, 
upper mountain ranges 
and lower sea floors, 
lose their coal, their oil, 
their precious metal. 
The rotted prospector 
raced to ranges in
California, Arizona, 
Alaska 
to remake the face of 
the planet in his own 
toothless image. 
Ounce by evil ounce, 
he dragged his motherload 
into town for a whiskey 
and an hour of simple 
companionship. 

The giant hoses fracking 
below the surface, 
and we tell the deposits 
to lean over and spit. 
They spit out the water 
and the crude. 
Piped over holy lands 
and under the Straights of 
Mackinaw, 
we pump into our factories, 
our automobiles, 
our arms. 
Monstrous rigs in
The Gulf of Mexico 
drill deep and replace 
the once and future reefs. 
Home to kelp and barnacles 
and tiger sharks. 
The kelp and barnacles 
and tiger sharks 
remain unaware 
of their impending 
blaze. 
They remain unaware 
of the impending 
eye of fire west of 
the Yucatan. 

With masks we help 
the dolphin laugh 
at her demise; 
the nitrous lets her forget: 
she lives without care. 
Fillings, crowns, 
bridgework 
never really conceal 
the pain. 
We see the rot 
below the surface 
and we feel that nagging throb 
in old number eighteen. 

Monstro with a belly full of 
Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket 
exhales the smoke 
through his gaping 
blowhole. 
Monstro scares schools of 
snapper as they flee and fly. 
Pinocchio’s tail/tale 
echoes our sins, 
as remains of his fire: 
the wondrous signifier of industry,
enslave him and the dolphin. 
Simple toymaker, Geppetto, takes 
his place in the modern world 
and scrapes the plaque
from the modern 
mouth.

---

On ‘The Postmodern Mouth’

This poem explores the impact of resource extraction on our natural environment. Imagery of dental tooth extraction is used to show the personal connections between our individual lives and the environmental devastation we commit in the name of progress and financial gain.

The art in the poem’s thumbnail is courtesy of © @sevketarikart.