All the ax-murderers work at candy shops

All the ax-murderers work at candy shops

Slicing licorice with machetes

Roiling gumdrops in vats

Pulling taffy cautiously

Wax lips are cherry-red

Smiling

Smiling for you

Eyes flick over rows of cotton candy

Never stopping, working behind the counter

And giving you a lumpy paper bag

With a surprise inside

I wrote that poem late at night, after having the titular phrase kicking around my head for a while. I like it cause it has a stylized feel to it, since it combines two concepts which are both very stylized: the card-carrying, bloody-blade-swinging, psychopathic ax-murderer, and the colorful, innocent, infectiously sugary candy shop. I suppose it's more evidence of my taste for the creepy and the whimsical. You guys have been getting a lot of that lately... I hope you don't all think I'm disturbing now.