A Poem #1

So... yeah, in honor of poetry month, I'm writing a poem a day. I haven't done this since I was 16. Yup. Don't get excited. They will not be as sweet as Aichlee's offerings and I would be a fool to submit any of them to Cave Canem. But at least I know I will make someone laugh today.*


each morning
a bowl of ho-hum
healthy hard to chew
which scratched my throat
if I added sugar
I got in trouble
if i added sugar
the drills
and tasteless suckers
if i added sugar
my tummy would ache just before
i hopscotch queen reached
number ten
if i added sugar
in a place where sugar cane grew
to create the outskirts
we came to on the days daddy
cared to drive in a long straight line

with just a little bit of fear in my soul
i'd step to the man who
would machete
these stalks
and hand me the splinters
that didn't prick
but left crystals
on my fingertips instead
and on my tongue a
juice just sweet enough to
understand what nature wanted for us and
we should
apologize for
disappointing her with
talk of cavities and
attempting to refine her

if i'd added sugar anyway
i might not be surprised
to find there are other
things that have sprung
up from the earth
tall and straight
that don't leave you rotten
make your belly ache
make you lose a game
you're good at
all this is to say

you
are

*Wow. This funk I'm in is no joke. I should drink some lemon verbena tea.