canned pears

stepping inside the paper bag 
i became the little hard candy 
you wanted to put under your tongue.
at the soup kitchen 
we sat in the back eating birthday cake
thrown out by a grocery store nearby.
the roses looked like lips. they talked
& said, "don't worry about being ugly."
tear filling. i cried & the green beans
asked for mercy. crooked fingernails.
no one wants to keep the fruit for winter.
we want to eat right now.
sit under the pear tree in my great aunt's house
& feast until we are pearl drunk.
stealing money from the top drawer.
from the purse. don't keep cash around me
i'll turn it into butterflies. let's eat sand.
let's eat a handful of sugar & run
until our knees fall off. i tell the doctor
that lately my joints have been coming
out of their sockets. he suggests running more.
i become a puppet. you take me
to first grade again. start over. 
canned pears in my lunch box. canned pears
in my bed. i tear the arms off my dolls.
i worship my stuffed animals 
like the tiny gods they are. we could
put the whole tree in a can. listen
as the wasps call their mothers.
i don't always remember why or how 
to chew. the pears are good for that.
slither down my throat as wild slugs.
well at least it is still summer. at least
there is an unlost pair of scissors. 
plastic fork. playing the electric organ.