Creative License 2017

Ode to a Barbecue Chip
by Jacob C. Smith
O bubbling, rippling crisp,
thin as petals and brittle as bark
and crunching, cracking under pressure from unwary teeth,
and from fumbling fingers filmed with filth: thy
dangerous dust, thy
perilous powder, these
dirty digits vengefully vied to vary thy velocity
en route to the dark hole of thy acidic immolation,
of a wicked torrent of watery enzymes bane only to thee and thine own.
He who Lays thy figure unto a tongue
has surely misread the cautionary red
marbled upon thy visage,
this orange and yellow not the neon of sour citrus,
but the promising hues of resurrecting embers,
brother to thy saucy, spicy scent, pungent as smoke.
28 CREATIVE