50 QUID DOWN THE DRAIN, OR A NIGHT OF DELINQUENT SAVAGERY

by Bradford Middleton

My damn tooth has been playing up again

And, as usual in this frugal existence of

This lowest of poets, I worry. Not about

Infection or pain but money as is always

The way in this kinda life. Now from past

Experience, a couple of months ago in fact,

I know it'll cost me 50 quid to get the damn

Thing taken out but last night it came to me,

A cunning plan, to outdo even the cheapest

Of dentists.  I reckon about half of that in

Just the right bad boozer could get it done

And offer another new poem to mark my

Descent into gummy toothlessness at the,

Right now, seemingly never-ending nightmare

Of suffering and pain and nights of punching

Yourself in the side of the face hoping to

Release it just to end the damn vicious pain.

Bradford Middleton lives in Brighton on the UK’s southeast coast.  He was born in London during the long hot summer of 1971 and growing up on a council estate and attending the local school, he learnt two things; if he didn’t kick back he’d never get anywhere in this life, merely becoming another cog in the wheel, and has been kicking against those pricks his entire life. He began writing when he arrived in Brighton in the early years of the new century and began reading his poems to often stunned and confused onlookers until one day Mad Swirl asked to publish one of his poems. He’s had four chapbooks published since then and has hundreds of poems dotted all over the internet.  His work has featured in the Chiron Review, Evening Street Review, New Reader Magazine, Paper & Ink Lit Zine, Horror Sleaze Trash, and Razur Cuts, amongst other places including, of course, Yellow Mama.  Follow him on Twitter @BradfordMiddle5.