For such a duration
I have endured,
and thus procured,
what can only be described
as an acquired taste.
For those things experienced
merely by exposure,
could be the bitterest of desires,
yet, desired nonetheless,
as one of the sweetest flavors.
Therefore,
may I be so bold as to ask,
granted that judgment is solely a matter
of which palette has been developed,
how to kill a feeling?
It is one that I have come to acquire.
Come to think of it,
some answers are those
that cannot be explained,
but are merely chemical
and all in the head.
All rights reserved Matthew Ochs 2011
. . .
This poem calls into question why we crave things, even when they can be overtly negative. It brings to mind the relationship where you're frustrated and at the end of the proverbial rope, but keep coming back to that same person no matter how destructive the relationship may be. Oddly enough that same sort of "addiction" is incredibly similar to other addictions, say, drugs and alcohol. The similarity lies in shared experience that prolonged exposure to those things creates, a real chemical dependency in the brain. Sometimes we just can't seem to get over the desire to feel that rush of serotonin we used to feel in the presence of that special person. You may not even know that it's not about them, but rather it's all in your head.
