For the Moss Piglet Beatles issue- deadline is 3/2. Do you get the reference “Look ma, no cavities?” ( It’s from a 1950s TV ad. for toothpaste. :-) I REVISED put a newer poem here….as of 02/19/2022

I Got my First Cavity Because of the Beatles

It all started with two-inch by four-inch
slabs of chalky-pink bubble gum
tucked behind Beatle cards –
packaged together in colorful wrappers.

Black and white trading cards
Paul, the cute one, with dreamy eyes,
John the bad boy, with long hair,
George, the quiet, thoughtful one,
drummer Ringo, engaging and goofy.
We liked the Paul cards best,
those eyes and pouty mouth.
Most cards black and white,
special ones in color,
four cards per pack.

And more gum.

Numbered on the back.
Collect them all.
Portrait cards and group shots:
descending stairs of an airplane,
swimming at the beach – shirtless!
Boys, fooling around in the park
like celebrities, which they were.
Ninety-nine Beatle cards in all

and stale, pink slabs of sugary gum.

As the granddaughter of a dentist
I prided myself on brushing
after every meal. Look ma, no cavities!
I made it until thirteen years old
when the Beatles
took our country by storm.

Nearly every lunch hour we girls trekked
across the street from junior high
to the crowded candy store on Scott Street
where we anteed up a few nickels in
exchange for Beatle cards, bad bubble gum
and my first cavity.