days of cold cereal

Here's something
I've gotten better at over the years:
pouring milk into a bowl of cold cereal.

And it's odd, because
in the old days of old, I ate cereal
and my skills never improved at all!

now that it's a rare treat, though
- step back!
Recognize the flaws
in my technique - correct them.

The world 'cereal'

derives from Ceres, a greco-roman
goddess-type figure
who if I remember my mythology
right, was known for being raped
by the god of dead people and,
one assumes,
also for eating a lot of cereal.
But there's a nutritious truth
behind these myths! Which is:

Cereal.

we had Corn Flakes, Grape Nuts,
all manner of Chex, Life,
Buck-Wheats (wherefore art thou,
Buck-Wheats?), Shredded Wheat, Mini
-Wheats, Wheaties, Branny
-O's, Cheerios, Raisin
Bran, and Cracklin' Oat
Fucks.

I'm barely scratching the surface - you name it.
Except: no cereal with sugar
as the first ingredient.

(No Cap'n Crunch, Boo-Berry, Lucky
Charms) for those we had to hold out
'til Grandpop and Grandmom's
- which made those visits special!

We went through so much sugar, I swear
I would fill my bowl heaped
to a height and a half
corn-flakes balanced like a stack of Jenga, then
pour the milk on down and through (flashing
and splashing at all angles!), the milk level up
to the brim of the bowl. When I finished the cereal,
there would still be a half-bowl of milk
and I'd say, "Damn. Well, I guess
I need to pour some more cereal in

And four, five more heaping tablespoons full
of sugar.

I still love cereal,
but I never put sugar on anything now.

Must be some difference
in a child's metabolism. Sugar,
at that growing age,
is just what the body needs
- and that message is sent to the brain
and received! And acted upon. Rightly
so.

The word 'sugar'
derives from Sugos, the ancient
Mesopotamian god of youthful exuberance,
and hyperactivity.