Cola

Image Courtesy: cottonbro studio

Every sip of cola 

Is a memory of you. 

Cola tasted like a sweet nectar 

Now, I taste pure battery acid. 

Throat is bubbling, burning, boiling,

Feeling as if I’m about to suffocate. 

The fizz, it's calling your name 

I hear it, but I just feel a sharp pain.  

I want to taste the nectar again 

But all I can do now is pretend. 

Let me try one last sip. 

It’s burning; I’m still suffocating. 

But now I remember; it's clear again,

That every sip I take is to feel your sweetness.

Strike Out,

Orlando

By Brenda Nunes

Edited by Arsheeya Garg

Brenda Nunes is a staff writer for Strike Magazine, Orlando. At the moment, she is pursuing her bachelor's degree in English literature with a minor in writing and rhetoric at the University of Central Florida. Beyond writing, she finds a sense of peace in sharing her life experiences with others and in hearing the personal experiences that others have had in her community. She hopes her stories will help readers embrace their own sense of belonging.