• Sugar and chemical tang on red tongue rolling
    Maraschino cherries in bleeding circles,
    and her sunburned hands clutching jingling
    keys to a cherry-red Mustang, brand new
    from a sweetheart on Valentine's day,
    parked just before a stop sign.
    The devil is playing a merry trill, love
    popping like empty balloons flying away
    into a gray distance and the last thing you remember
    is that Red Hots really are spicy, aren't they,
    and if you could,
    you'd trade your current pain for the burn
    of too much cinnamon on your tongue all at once.