NO HEART INVOLVED: Just my teeth

By Catherine Ngazimbi (Woman of Valor)

catherinengazimbi48@gmail.com +263775534429

I have gone through the school of hardknocks. My heart was once my shield like the brave warrior that mommy raised. I foraged and marched head on towards life. Mommy didn't raise a quitter, did she? My heart was my trophy and I gave it away. It was torn, pierced and crowned with thorns then handed back to me. For a brief moment it had stopped beating, succumbing to the fatal wounds of the world. I think I died briefly and sank down into the myriad depths of Hades. This was the darkest place I had ever been.

I felt like the rich man calling out to Lazarus, but to no avail. The struggle was all mine. I had gotten myself down, so I had to get myself up. Slowly and painfully, I crawled back to life. It was no easy feat crawling on one hand whilst the other held my heart, the umbilical cord that linked my soul to my heart barely attached. I crawled back, my eyes shut and my soul oblivious to the million voices which kept throwing unsightly tentacles, pulling me back into the pit.

The struggle was fierce, but I grew fiercer. Gritting my teeth, I finally reached the top. With trembling hands I placed back my heart into the dark hollow of my soul and it coughed back to life. I gasped then breathed - Ohhh, how sweet!

Now that my heart had the exclusive job of pumping blood, I discovered a tool stronger than my heart. I discovered that my heart needed an accomplice. I discovered that my smile could actually hide the pain harboured in my heart. The heart is not the strongest part of my body after all. It has been biologically proven that teeth have the strongest substance in the human body, I'm a living testimony.

My smile creates a powerful facade that no one can uncover without my consent. Only my teeth shall be exposed, my heart is safely hidden - let it pump blood and maintain my body's homeostasis unhindered. When I smile, only my teeth will show. I have built a fortress around my heart; it is too fragile. My teeth can handle the world, I only need toothpaste. My smile will disarm even the strongest warrior and shield my soul. Those who are shrewd enough might peek through my eyes. Only the cleverest observer might see the sorrow that is hidden within the dark pools of my eyes.

So, dear World, I'm coming, armed - to my teeth. And the interpretation is literal.