Taste

When I inadvertently place my thumb on my lip

I find it to be wet

I smell it

I instantly recognize the smell of cat food

Which

Since I feed my geriatric cat

Many small portions

Particularly at night

When

For some reason

He is ravenous and

It is five minutes to eleven

Is unsurprising and

Still disgusting

Yet I don’t taste anything

I can still smell it on my thumb

I suppose if I really worked at it

If I licked my thumb the way my son did today

Maybe even initially pretending it is chocolate

From a chocolate covered pretzel

That my father purchased for me

As a treat

Because we missed my class

To drop off his friend at the train station

Then it wouldn’t be inadvertent and

I would taste it and

It wouldn’t taste like chocolate