Sweet Medicine

So I've heard
that the difference
between poison
and medicine
is in the dose.
     I've also heard
that food should
be our medicine,
the front lines
against disease.
   I've also heard
                         (bear with me)
that the quickest way
to a man's heart
          is through his belly.

Let's put aside the obvious
     problems glaring at us
           with glowing,
             unsettling eyes -
of the literal relationship
of constant ingestion
of meaty, fatty proteins
and heart disease
- and let's just sit back,
relax: take this
    on a more abstract level.

Her words & actions
       were saccharine:
thick dollops of gelato
filling a generously large bowl.
It took more than a few years
to finish, but I got through it.
With hardly any surprise,
I was bowled over in dull pain.
I've since barred myself
from anything dairy or eggs,
wary of the possibility
of yet more heartache
from the sheer overdose
of manufactured sweetness.
                              But I've found my kind
of sweetness: a cup of tea
                                           of the proper size
                           tastefully laced with the right
kind and amount of honey.

So yes, the dose
makes the medicine,
the right food fights frailty,
and you found your way
to my heart
        with every serving
                   of personality you share
    with me on this crazy,
casual, natural, late-night,
               early-morning, culinary crusade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first finished poem I've written for the year, finished this March 11!

Cheers!