a whole bag of licorice

i knew

that eating so many sticks

of black

licorice

with ruin me.

but i kept at it.

i had a whole

bag and no one was home.

i could blame

it on the dog,

claim

it was stolen.

how could they ever know?

and then

the rumble of my

belly began

making me crawl

to the bathroom.

which was

where they found me

with a thick coat of black

upon my tongue.