pop rocks
wish i could forget them
their tarantella of the tongue
like barefoot adolescence at the 7/11
wish i could be satisfied
with a sleeve of Saltines from the pantry
the way they crack a monotony
dissolve in your mouth
a taste that's not really a taste
so much as an absence of sensation
a lot like the way you feel
when you are fifty-one
and your whole life is crumbling
before your very eyes
About the Author: Candice M. Kelsey (she/her) is a bi-coastal writer and educator. Her work has received Pushcart and Best-of-the-Net nominations, and she is the author of nine books. Her work appears in Bust, The Rumpus, Painted Bride Quarterly, Poet Lore, SWWIM, and other journals. A reader for The Los Angeles Review and The Weight Journal, she recently served as an AWP Poetry Mentor.
Image Credit: Human tongue, taste buds for bitter are marked from Gray’s Anatomy Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia.
As It Ought To Be 
