You stretch the sweetness till it’s thin

You stretch the sweetness till it’s thin,

a rubber ghost against the cheek.

It’s how we let the boredom in,

by trying to make the flavor speak.

I felt the tug beneath my heel,

a sudden hitch in how I stride.

A hardened wad, as cold as steel,

with all the dirt of the world inside.

A pink coin flattened in the grit,

it’s stuck there for the long haul now.

We take a joy and ruin it,

without even knowing when or how.