a kids canine

she came in to the surgery

eager as punch

I was taking her baby tooth out

to straighten the rest out

...at least temporarily

and distracting her a little

I raised the needle

and placed it on her gum

up came the hand immediately

and swiped it out of the way

"hey that pinches"

she said

laughing out of hand

and I talked her 

off the ledge

numbed up

she smiled

and said

"Dad I can't feel my face"

and then the extraction

a fully formed kids canine.

easy I thought to myself

as I struggled to extract it sweating

(such long roots)

out it popped

and relieved we both laughed

as she wiped the blood from

her mouth she said

"mum can i have some ice-cream"

kids

cant shoot em

dont even think

of extracting their 

baby teeth.

unless you

are a 

masochist

or

a dentist.

...tough

head shot

pick a reason, any reason

cancer? a worthy cause? a bet? drunk?

what does it matter

its all gone.

strange that people dont recognise me

or if they do , its a classic double take.

and it got me thinking

we are all caricatures of ourselves.

what is pete

without the crazy hair?

who is pete

is he still there?

of course I am

nothing has really changed

but there's been a resurgence

of questions.

all about appearance.

and in the end

people just get used to it.

although they remain challenged.

and all of a sudden

i feel a certain kinship

with those poor sods who are

bald by nature not design.

now what else can I radically change?