Teeth in the wall in Valdosta, Georgia

Written by Meg RuoccoPhotography by Calder Sell Teeth in the wall in Valdosta, Georgia I thought the first tooth that fell out of the hole in the wall was a fluke. A rogue skullpiece, a shard of a forgotten ghostthat felt like a cold pebble between my fingers when I bent down to inspect it.  Then more teeth poured out of you. Decades of rotted, baby, gold, white-turned yellow thingstumbled out of your cross-braced mouth and into my digging siteuntil you were nothing more than gum beams and concrete tongue.  Until your cheeks hollowed out, cavities where teeth memories once clung, and you were a broken skull stitched together by two-by-fours excavated by archaeologists in yellow vests and orange hats who crashed through your lips when perhaps you didn’t want to speak.  Because walls can’t talk without any teeth.  Poet’s note: This poem is about a building in Georgia in which thousands of teeth were found in the walls. Turns out it used to be a dentist’s office, and they would just stick teeth in the wall so they didn’t have to throw them away. It was so bizarre that I immediately knew I needed to write a poem about it. Link: https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/hundreds-of-teeth-found-in-downtown-valdosta-wall/article_2c6a0635-f973-58c2-8e18-949e63e4d9c7.html