I offer sugar-speckled gumdrops, full
of exploding sweetness,
soft between fingers, nothing
wasted, nothing to throw away.
He doesn’t want them,
his candy of choice a lollipop.
He picks his favorite
flavor, unfastens the wrapper,
smothers color.
He breaks the perfect
circle into crunchy bits
that get lodged in yellow
teeth, until all that remains is a trace of color
stuck to a stick
so tightly he can’t take it.
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