The only way to get rid of all those awful, hateful things you say to yourself is to solidify them into lozenges, place them on your tongue, and let them dissolve.

Form your I’m not good enoughs into a blue raspberry drop, your I can’t do its into a cherry drop, and your I don’t deserve its into a lemon-lime drop. Cluster your self-shaming into a lozenge and drop it into your mouth.

As it melts, realize how awful all those flavors taste together–cherry, blue raspberry, lemon-lime–and how much better off you’ll be without their daily poison.

Soon, the cheap blue and red and green dyes will fade from your tongue, and you’ll forget what they even tasted like in the first place.

This has been Microvember, my take on NaBloPoMo. Each day this month I posted microfiction, short vignettes, or poetry, accompanied by photography. See all the Microvember posts here.