AN OCCASIONAL, CHOCOLATE LOVING POET

My nano's on hold - life's taken over, as it does - so this week I'm offering a couple of poems which I hope you enjoy.

The Thrift Shop.

 

I enter.

A predator hunting

with sensory antennae stalking.

Eyes flash

on layers of crushed crimson velvet,

edged with luscious creamy Belgian lace.

A confection; a creation

once bought for a special occasion,

and later gracing many a dance

swirling through the night.

I picture myself,

embraced by dashing arms

dancing to rhythmic beats,

as rainbow lights refract.

I caress the cloth

snared by lingering remnants of indulgence

as it cascades across my flesh.

A shiver scours my soul as,

pregnant with ghost memories

    of honeyed kisses and broken promises,    

          of the march of young men’s lives,            

                       of love dead before its time,                       

past losses seep into the present.

I shrug off the shadows,

relinquishing my prey.

It wasn’t my colour anyway.

*

Haiku is a very short form of Japanese poetry with a phrase and fragment structure. The phrase sets up the image, and the fragment juxtaposes a second image which gives another layer of meaning. 

Japanese is a syllable oriented language and, in Japanese, haiku has a syllabic pattern of 5-7-5. English is a stress oriented language (think iambic pentameter) so there are discussions as to how to maintain the original purity of the form. 

I do sometimes write free verse poetry (see above) but I like haikus because they’re short, and I like the idea of creating an image in so few words. Composing haiku makes for good writing practice as you soon learn to cut excess words, and focus on condensing what you want to say down to its essence. 

The following set of haiku is for all chocolate lovers everywhere.

Flavours of Lindt chocolate as seen on a display shelf.

Cherry; dark red fruits

hanging like polished marbles

in Kentish orchards.

Crunchy Caramel;

explosions of sweet sugar

as sharp teeth bite down.

Extra Cremoso ;

brown eyes flirt , satin smooth skin;

a hint of Rio.

Irish Coffee; warms

like the Gulf Stream off the wild

west Atlantic coast

Pistachio; from

Persian plains; most pleasantly

Pleasing the palate

Orange Intense;  blood,

Sweet Valencian, Navel.

Ripened drops of gold.

Roasted Almond;  Rod

Of Aaron, brought forth sweet blooms.

Sweet and bitter fruit.

Strawberry; a rose,

With seeds on the outside.

Symbol of Venus.

Tart Citron Merangue;

Mediterranean glints

On high alpine peaks.

*

Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku  

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To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.