artificial fruit flavor

Jenny M. Liu

mellie melon melancholy
never have i seen a more morose girl
swinging high loose hands
around plastisol chains
parasol shot through by acid rain
lying prone by the sandbox pail

acid tongue stained blue blue blue
you blew it didn’t you?
never candy of the moss variety
never zero to hero until
saltwater taffy broke your jaw wide open, big O
dentist said you could model for crest
& mint never tasted the same

do pucker up, lemon zest
the urge to fly starts in the fingertips
and a bruise tastes like a poached pear
pierced with a jolly rancher shiv
(swear you won’t get sugar high
it’s nothing like the real thing)
your bellybutton can carry the lime
sliding down the rim gaining static
strength electric

zing

zing

zing!

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Jenny M. Liu resides in the burning desert of Southern Nevada. Her work appears in the anthology, 99 Tiny Terrors. She can sometimes be found on Twitter and Instagram, both @jennymliu.

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