Cookies are now Illegal - Feb. 25, 2023

the dieter has returned

and outlawed sweet treats

the new rule is savory

measured and clocked

the cookie sheet must be puzzled

no more plop and sizzle

of chocolatey dough

no oohs and aahs

when they’re too hot to touch

no groans of bliss

after one is lifted

and the cookie jar?

dark and silent again

the few crumbs left sit

in solitary confinement

begging for release

for nothing they did wrong

and pray for a pardon

from the lawmaker’s right hand

at least a humanitarian furlough

while his left sleeps

caught in the headlights

of a saccharine dream