Sour Patch Kids

By Daisy Dai

I can’t eat sour patch kids
Without thinking about you

Or any sour gummy candy for that matter
Because I know they were your favorite

You would always buy them
Which surprised me at first

I hadn’t bought candy since I was a kid
Especially not to eat on my own

In my mind adults buy candy for Halloween
To bring smiles to innocent trick-or-treaters
Or as unassuming gifts to acquaintances

I was more of a chocolate person
But we never really ate those

Because I didn’t buy candy
But we would share the ones you would buy

And I grew to love sour patch kids too
Especially the red ones

I felt like they tasted the sweetest
Pairing nicely with the initial hit of sour

But now it feels weird to eat any
Sour gummy candy
Especially sour patch kids

They have a distinct taste that
Separates them from
All the sour gummy candies

And that taste in my mouth
Tastes too much like you

Our relationship was like a
Reverse sour patch kid

At first so intoxicatingly sweet and
Gradually bitterly sour

With no sugar to kill the
Sharp sting of artificial acidity