Smiling is a matter of biting

through.

It is a matter of biting
through, they say, and their words
become my thoughts, root
in my gums. I bite, grind
my teeth until they shatter.
My mouth bleeds vampire tears,
but I suck myself empty. I
bite. Bite on my teeth that
are stubs, bite through my teeth,
harder, harder, a little more -