lemon law

i have dreams of limbless best friends

of lucky men who taste like lemons but not lemons

well, maybe lemons. but only the ones on Coronas

if lemons are all the Lima people have left

and only lemons if I haven't tasted them yet.

!!!

The WEEK before I have my first LEMON!

L-E-M-O-N! a citron. A fantasy of citrus, I could only

hope it is as good as the sticky pop the bank teller

handed out. I can only HOPE this lemon, this lemon

this lemon is the favorite. Strawberries, buh bye. Fuck

them. I am about to have a lemon. MY lemon.

I have never had one. I assume they must taste free.

Not acidic. I am not saying this lucky man is acidic.

What I am saying, I think, is I keep having dreams of things

that speak loudly--louder than I have ever spoken,

even over the chickadees and screamcore ten years ago--

about the people in my life and how when I am awake

all I seem to do is bounce from toothache to

licking tomato paste from the can, hoping & counting the

odd of cutting my tongue

but, really, what is all this about palominos, backless chef outfits,

and hands scaling up my spine? And the L-E-
M-O-N-S?! These goddam lemons I have never once tasted.

Lemon, lemon. Something about 60 minutes and the 1970's Pinto

and lemons and maybe my Parents shoulda traded theirs in. And spritz it

on apples in a school room corner aquarium full of dixie-cupped tomato plants.

He probably doesn't taste anything close to a lemon.

-Suzanne Jones, Ides of September Challenge