Reece Burkaauthor

The poetic city: “On Coming to Term with the Inherent Unfairness of Things 4/23/17”

Photo of the twin who finally caught up. (Photo by: his mother) 

On Coming To Terms With The Inherent Unfairness of Things     4/23/17

 

 

The five year-old boy who lives across the street

is disconsolate. 

 

His twin brother was the first to lose a tooth

and first to be visited by the tooth fairy. 

 

His parents try to console with reason and logic, to no avail. 

 

They point out that each has the same number of baby teeth, 

and each can expect the same number of visits 

from the tooth fairy. 

 

But the five year old from across the street

is having none of it. 

 

He knows that he will never experience  

the pop of surprise and delight that comes

with winning the race and being first to

get the prize.

 

And to make matters worse, 

his twin gets to brag to everyone

in the neighborhood about his triumph, 

while proudly displaying the gap between his teeth.

 

The five year old knows that when his turn comes, 

it won’t be the same. 

 

But that doesn’t stop him from working hard with 

his tongue and finger on loosening the tooth  

that he thinks gives him his best shot at catching up.