The Father of Our Country
       

You can see four sets of George Washington's dentures
at the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore.
They're in a special room by themselves,

and they are not made of wood
but of hippopotamus ivory and gold springs.
His grimace looks so parental.

For those of us without a father,
George is happy to stand in.
Unable to have children of his own,

now he's adopted the whole country—
in loco parentis. He's the wholesome general
whose troops lost their shoes at Valley Forge.

Instead of children, he bred
hunting dogs. He gave his hounds
such toothy names: Tartar and Sweetlips.

I want Thanksgiving dinner with George. I want
stringy wild turkey, mashed yams with coconut,
and his favorite: cream of peanut soup.

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Copyright © 2019 Kim Roberts All rights reserved
from The Southern Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission