Five thousand years before we had such things As nylon and Gore-Tex, we’d chew a stick Until one end was frayed and that would be A toothbrush for those stubborn gristle strings; The other end we’d sharpen for a pick. Look up miswak. It’s from an Asian tree Called Salvadora persica, whose twig Is chewed by millions. You’d be out of line To tell those people it is infra dig To munch on branches when their thirty-two Are quite as pearly white as yours and mine. Old World or New, we hold this to be true: To have unsightly gunk between the teeth Our common dignity it is beneath. —Henry Rathvon