The Sweet Bitters

We’ve had enough of the bittersweet,
The good news that comes with a sidecar
Of pain. We want bitters to be sweet,

The grim facts dressed in tinsel, the truth
That’s already impossible not
To know, anyway, given a taste

Of its own bitter medicine, turned
Away from the ordinary facts
That we don’t need to recite for you

To know and know you don’t like them. No.
We want our spoonful of sugar now,
Some sweetness in the bitterest drink.

No. More. We want the bitters themselves
To turn out to be surprisingly
Sweet, sweet bitters. No more bittersweet.