Vinegar

You’ll catch more flies with honey,

But in my family we know,

One part vinegar one part water

Cleans your countertops,

Shoos the ants away in sticky-hot summers.

Just a spoonful of vinegar

will make your pie crust flakier.

It’ll keep the pork roast tender.

And who needs flies anyway?

Who needs to be liked by the maggot-layers?

All that tells you is where the rotting meat lives.

The truth about loving people is it can’t always be sweet.

Because people are messy

And words sometimes taste bitter and sharp.

It doesn’t make them less necessary.

Our family knows real homes smell like vinegar.