Out of bed I slipped real quick
in search of a pill I could pick
to stop the pain which I felt
and end my spiral, downward melt.

One didn’t work, so I took another
and then I prayed to the Holy Mother,
but instead of the pain going away
it came back stronger with more to say.

I picked up the phone, although it was late,
to find a dentist for a midnight date,
but all I got were recorded voices
leaving me with no viable choices.

Still in my pajamas, I ran outside
from the blinding pain to try to hide,
but stride for stride it kept up with me,
until there was nothing  I could see.

Unable to view where I went,
on some step the night I spent
from where I howled at the moon
hoping help would find me soon.

I passed out oblivious to all
until I heard a siren’s call
and saw red lights atop a car
flashing at me from afar.

A man in white jumped out at me
looking like a dentist to set me free.
“No, I’m a vet,” he said with a scowl.
“You sounded like a dog with that howl.”

He tapped my bicuspid and I jumped real high
but he caught my leg before I reached the sky.
He pulled me down and pulled my tooth way up,
and then I heard it fall into a metal cup.

I licked his hand and wagged my tail
and let out a joyous, reverberating wail
that soared to a nearby shingled roof
only to be followed by a woof, woof, woof.