MOUTHFUL OF LIES

Don’t ask me why I loathe
the sweet potato
for if you do,
I just may tell you.
The sweet potato makes a cheater’s fry
a golden crispy fry
that looks,
in the wrong light,
like the tastiest and most awesome
of diner french fries.

So any sensible patron will grasp
as many of these golden prizes
as quick as can be
only to discover
the misbegotten things
are made not of ‘tater
but of yam.

You – if you are like me –
will be faced
with a mouthful of lies
in the form of wrong fries.

This swallow of betrayal
is where I learned
to despise
all that is sweet potato fries
and will never let a chance go by
to damn them
so long as I’m ever asked why.