Razors

He gave the playground
teeth, a jagged smile
buried under sand.

He gave the playground
grief. At the bottom
of a slide’s tilted J

children fell into a mouth
baring teeth, climbed again
the aluminum ladder.

A boy descends, wheat hair
fanning as he falls
palms-first on the sand.

The playground bites,
a scarlet rivulet slides
to his elbow, paint dripping

down a brush-handle.
Teeth, the boy shows
the world his teeth,

the bronze of his scream.
Ducks scatter across
the pond, the sand’s edge

where the boy’s hand
flutters, red maple leaf
in the teeth of wind.