sticky sweet
like summer rain
(in which they picked ripe strawberries and stained
their mouths red as
clothes grew heavy with water
and hair lay flat
against damp skin)
like wildflower honey
(hers, spread over bread and poured
into tea, clinging to fingers
with a gluey grip
matching her eyes and tasting
of her)
like peppermint candies
(his favorite, round balls of white and red stripes
melting on tongues
each one a fresh flavor
with that hint of spice that he loved)
sticky sweet
like laughing so hard they cried
like hot, lazy afternoons
like when they kissed
(honey and peppermint)
and then,
sickly sweet
like cough syrup
(for sore throats and nausea
and rough edges caused
by long-ignored discontent)
like aged roses
(left discarded by the sink, their odor filling the room
as petals grew brown
and once-green stems decayed)
like two tastes, once perfect
but now joined
one too many times
sickly sweet
like overripe strawberries
like months of peppermint candies
like words stuck
or tongues numb
or skin drowning in
wildflower honey
Poetry
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Wow! I just love this poem! There needs to be more like this!