Valentine Serenade

licorice confectionary
sweet funambulist walking
the rope, 'tis the strangler
of all candy, ligature of fate,
delicious surprise,

blood taste of
cupid's affluence
investment's demise
pernicious, in prophecy
the rapacious only breathing
by a thin twist, licorice that tastes
of anise,

build your
sweet, melt
down your rope,
sugar it up, then
stamp it with your
seal ring, an engraved
surface Happy Valentine's
Day stamped upon the blob
this day's mess of no candy tomorrow.
you've got a lot to swallow.

Copyright Ms. Sage Sweetwater, firebrand lesbian novelist