I recognize this postmortem feeling,
as I painfully extract Cupid’s arrow.

But oh, how unbearably enticing
you were, luring me like a siren’s song!
I couldn’t get enough of you,
nibbling delicately around your edges
or greedily devouring
your exquisite perfection.

—We’ve been through this before,
haven’t we?—

We both know the attraction
is unsustainable
and afterward—
when I am fully satiated—
I can pass you by
without longing or regret,
leaving you forsaken.

I’m not the only one
suddenly impervious
to your fading charms.

Even office colleagues,
who prowl for ANYTHING appealing
can’t stand to be near
your extravagant countenance,
finally cracking.

And the day comes
—it always does—

when I toss you out
and vow to resist you,
when the calendar turns to December.

Oh, but you’ll show up again
—you always do—

Masquerading in your cookie finery,
dazzling me with sugary sweetness,
infused with some potent elixir!

And I will succumb once again
to this recurring affair
while bemoaning my fate

—We’ve been through this before,
haven’t we?—

Sharon is a teacher who enjoys Wisconsin landscapes across the seasons. The Greater Madison Writing Project inspires her in the joyful company of other teacher-writers. Her poems have appeared in the WFOP Poets’ Calendar, Bramble, Howard Young Art Gallery (Artist's Muse) and Zo magazine.