as a child going pass
a bakery store window
displaying cupcakes
piled high of buttercream frosting

smiles and hugs –
the kind you can’t wipe off
with a damp cloth
sign said “closed”

but the cakes stood *****
as a cold woman’s *******
and came with dimples
making her mouth water –

a drop of saliva fell
from her mouth to the ground
creating a crystal bead
of ice

and she squashed it
as she stepped
to leave –
sign said “closed”