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When did you lose
your faith in candy?

Was it when you first
realized that sweet could
be tart? Did
your older brother
tell you that Tootsie
Rolls were little dog turds,
sugar added, transformation
not complete?
When did trick-or-treating
lose its appeal?
Did you stop dressing up
before you stopped going
door-to-door?
Did you stop tugging on
pant sleeves
in the supermarket?
When did you first
walk by the candy store
and realize your head
never turned?

Did the shallow memory of the having
supplant the lovely memory of the wanting?
Did you forget all this was fun?
Have you replaced your wants with a new
desire, more difficult
to obtain?

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