Time's Sticky Mandible

The first time I tasted
saltwater taffy I must have been 
too little to remember because
today when I taste it I think

it is the only taste in my life
and like the seashells in my pocket 
when we walked to the pier
last night I will never lose the taste never

but mom says when I scrunch my face 
and ask for another piece I did exactly the same 
thing the first time 
I tasted saltwater taffy last year last summer 

and where are the shells I brought to her room 
and poured on the bed 
over her suitcase and her night-things
when she told me to be quiet 

about the ocean later 
and go to sleep? But I am
I am tasting it and I don't believe her.
I have never, never had saltwater taffy, never.