April 2 #wtwrites

poem prompt: write about a childhood secret you never told

Bubblegum

It’s bedtime and I’m hiding under the
bed so they can’t find me and
put me to bed.

I open the wrapper of another piece of bubble gum,
the sugary kind I’ve never been allowed to have before,
and I shove it into my mouth
already full of gum,
chewing stickily, the flavor,
delight and horror in the sweetness.

I chew and chew,
pretending it’s as good as I dreamed.