Packaging is deceiving
bright colored wrappers
foil aluminum light
Catching eyes
popping
glitter sparkling twisttie surprises
confectioners ribbons
pink icing lips
powder sugar eyelids
dropping
sugar crystal glances
that freeze your tongue
to the cool
sugar rush
of lowered gazes
leave her looking at patent leather
toes pointed inward
bedroom eyes are made
of marzipan flowers and
essences of almond vanilla
syruped words --
she’ll never be what you think
or expect
biting into chocolates
with surprise insides
pinched corners
don’t give way to the fillings hidden
feelings
candy coating always melts
but not today
not in your mouth
those hands are not right
they hold too tight
crush and crumble
pathways to gingerbread homes
swallowed up by the mouths of the
nonbelievers
who wont read words on valentine hearts
be true
she is the box of chocolates
that will never be received
her words are a licorice whip
in self inflicted punishment
gluttony and greedy
little sticky hands that
lick the stripes off candy canes
leaving them naked and little
brittle belittled
leaving nothing behind but
the crash
and the sleep
the hazy nightmares that come
from too much chocolate
late at night
thinking she can be as sweet as
sugar plums
maybe if she smiles right
maybe if her eyes are bright
then the water wont dissolve her
into a puddle again
like the last time it rained
on teaparties
for princesses in shoes too large
plastic jewelry
on rubberband strings
taffy pulled in all directions
frosting spread too thin
when tiny morsels are all that’s needed
to make a cookie sweet
melting warmth
from insides out
take the bunch and wrap a ribbon
around the cracks
secure the pieces in place
with cellophane
sealed with bittersweet silver kisses
peppermint reactions
numbed cavity smiling
giant lollipop licking making
greedy children want more
what is not theirs
what is never enough
gluttonous infections
of over indulging in
such salivary sinfulness
silver aluminum wrappers
torn scattered like confetti
memories of things once treasured
slipping into trashcans
luster lost
luminance long dissipated
leftover remnants melted by the sun
to crackle and harden
into rock candy
sour stomach left behind
