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  

Thanks for visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.
To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.
 


 

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