“<3”    by Walter W. Quinn III

Have you ever watched what you knew not to grow

To suddenly multiply, ooze all over, overflow?

The timing couldn’t be worse, your utter desire

Becoming a gargantuan puddle of fire.

As it runs down your arms, legs, drips off your cheeks,

You step back, take it in, smell-oh how it reeks!

Such a sweet smell it had been, a pleasant treat

Once forgotten now, only to be incomplete.

A feeling you felt before, but pushed aside

Now sends you flying, takes you for a ride

On a seat that shakes and vibrates, spinning

Out of control, but it’s a game no one’s winning.

It drops of the tip of your nose, to meet its twin flying to your tongue

And sloshes around your teeth, spicing the buds on surface, before it’s flung

Near the back, it’s bittersweet, sugar no longer there she meets,

Instead, alone, no hot cocoa taste, no Valentine’s sweets.

Last but yet least, a sound to hear more,

A lover’s kiss, a cry for amour…

The pain in the shriek! The utter despair!

The unbelievable task that for some is so rare.

As your brain tries to make sense of these,

That very same liquid begins to freeze,

Ice cold it seems, but warmth soon follows,