Sour-apple-flavored candy

The team color of your alma mater’s rival

A jacket that never gets misplaced

The labial-nasal fricative of choice

for cicadas & fire-flies on a summer’s night

The vaguely perturbing chortle

of that quintessentially hip grandma

who reclaimed her youth through Yoga

The tinkle of that crystal bell

you long ago purchased in Prague for a song

An herbal cold remedy’s fizz

Key-lime pie’s tang

The fizz & the tang of a Midori Sour on the rocks

& the fuzzy socks

that     of course     you wouldn’t be caught dead in

The vinyl stool you still covet in your mother’s kitchen

& the satiny ribbon you once got for honorable mention

 

In other words

the dessert menu’s less lethal option

for the lactose intolerant on a date