coconut cream

each Christmas Eve my uncle
brings a box of assorted chocolates
(two layers deep).

each family member takes
turns becoming small 
& stepping into the box.

my father eats 
the chocolate covered
peanuts, one by one,

they're each the size 
of his head.

my uncle eats
all the cordial cherries,
red dripping from his mouth.

my brother curls
up in an empty spot
where the cherries was,

he falls asleep there
& i wake him up
so that he doesn't 
get eaten.

we all go to bed 
while my mother stands
in between 
plain milk chocolate
squares & raspberry filled ones.

she can never make 
up her mind. 

once everyone's asleep 
i sneak downstairs &
take the map of flavors
from inside the lid.

i hold it up & notice
that everything 
in this world is 
a piece of chocolate.

the sofa: filled with
chocolate mousse
the porch light: lemon
cream center

i walk outside
to bite into the house
because the map tells
me that it's caramel

but the coconut filling
gets me. i spit it out
in the trash & feel 
guilty for wasting 
sweet things.

i  try to cover up
the bite mark so that
someone else might
eat the house

& i eat the sofa
instead.

everyone gets up
on christmas & also 
sees that everything 
is chocolate.

we almost eat my brother
but we catch ourselves.

i know i'm a cordial cherry, 
my uncle eyes me all day.