From Heaven to Hell

Smell and taste intertwined - the strongest senses,

memory recalled – can return at any time

~

Tastes from the past burst forth

good and bad,

chocolate to cough syrup.

Some taste buds, however, once died

from my having a brother.

~

Five years old I was,

a crisp NY Halloween in the air.

My favorite Pixie Stix nearly mine,

tubes of radiant fruit-flavored bliss.

~

The ritual trading of candy between my brother and me over,

I carefully opened all the pastel-striped straws of Pixie Stix

pouring them into a small white bowl.

that glorious bowl would last

the next few glorious autumn mornings

~

My brother - evil incarnate –

defiled my sugary aspirations.

Seven years older than I

and too old to go trick-or-treating.

I was his convenient dupe that day.

~

After playing outside

I headed back in the kitchen

and reached for the beautiful bowl.

my brother watched me from across the kitchen table -

a hideous scarecrow with black eyes,

and I downed the delicious dust

~

Suddenly, my eyes began to tear

my mouth was on fire,

I felt like throwing up.

I cried as my eyes swelled shut with pain,

my nose squinched up in a perpetual sneeze.

My brother’s laughter knocked him off the kitchen chair

… but ….

he was immediately dispatched to his room,

our mother discovering the sordid truth

~

Demon brother had eaten most of my beloved candy powder

and then

as any demon was wont to do,

replaced it with pure black pepper

replacing a layer of Pixie

to hide the fire-spice.

~

To this day, I believe he is still there in his dungeon,

withering away half a century later,

without remorse and laughing at my tears.