Contemporary Romanticism

If Life Gives You Lemons, Make

JENNIFER PERRINE

your mouth into a trough, a spout
from which that sour sauce will pour,
pulp and spittle swimming down your
chin, eyes pinched shut, each acid thought

welling under the tongue. Thin slice
of pain wedged on the salty rim
of your face, let its tart grace skim
your glass neat: no sugar, no ice

to temper this bite, this slick burst
that cankers your lips. Life gives you
lemons: cut your teeth on their rinds,

tear them with gusto, slake your thirst
with their slavering, jaundiced juice,
swallow hard, leave no seeds behind.

To me, this poem urges readers to accept the things that happen in life. This is a play on the phrase "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" however, the message is to drink down the sour taste.