Ubiquitous Candy Man
by Odin Roark

Beware of Mr. Candy Man.

A Blow Pop for you.
A Blow Pop for you too.
Suck through the sugared coating
and chew,
chew,
chew.

There we are,
saliva's pleasure he promotes,
that moment when swallowing the sweetness
conjures up but more dependence
for kneading the chewy potion
into workable and persuasive attention,
filling the bubble of one's labors
with vacuous noisy potential until…

Pop.
Stick.
Mess.
Entrapment’s aftermath.

But wait…

That's not us convincing ourselves
while assigning the mucous of guilt to others.
No!
No!
No!
We don't partake in pleasure's decay.

Yet…

Let we who has never indulged a candy man's persuasion
show our pearly whiteness of principals devoid of such erosion
and honesty will show all as clones of denial
lining up behind closed doors ready to receive
our cosmetic fix,
to once again
indulge our addiction to
Mr. Candy Man.

Some of us with a “sweet tooth” also know sour,
especially come November 2016.