We Took Our Anger and Swallowed It

We Took Our Anger and Swallowed It

by Suzanne Marie Hopcroft


In the beginning
mine went
down
like apricot preserves,
globs
of it jiggling
smooth and
sweet as
I pressed
tongue
to palate and
swallowed and
moved it
with
gentle force
into the
recesses of
my mind.

But later on
when that
savor had been
worn away so
entirely by
spit and
tears
I found myself
gulping
down
slurs and
tasting too much
spice,
as though they’d
been served
up
alla arrabiata,
with mad sauce.


-poem refers from the word “anger” in Jason Joyce’s poem Population