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just to bathe my mouth in fiery sweetness, I blush at the indulgence
represented by this soft amber nub wrapped in translucent
rice paper, a pearly layer of starch disguising waves
of creeping sweet and ginger released as the tongue kneads
this gem against the roof of the mouth, its bite lingering
on the tongue's surface and the throat's opening.
It's sweet sting so like the memory of you.
I don't consider the cost of sending this extravagance
halfway around the world.
I think only of extracting the flavor
as bitterness, softness, and sweetness melt away.
When little is left, the pliable nugget reduced
to a thin grainy layer, sweetness is lost in bitterness,
intensifying at the throat until nothing
remains but the sting of ginger,
a faint sweetness.
So like the memory of you.
©2011 R.M. Talbot
This poem was inspired by three things: "The Traveling Onion" by Naomi Shihab Nye, my favorite ginger candy, and the bittersweetness of some relationships. I looked for a link to Nye's poem on a poetry site and couldn't find it, but you can read it here.
6 comments:
great play on taste here and great use of metaphor...ginger...hmmm...some great lines that touch the senses...
You tease the palate with this indulgence, singing a very subtle flavor of emotion. (It folds in several ways, like an origami.) A candy with a sad ebb, so delicately crafted. Nice job.-- Brendan
oh wow...really enjoyed this...your description is such you can almost taste the candy...it is certainly a shared experience...i dont think we count the cost of much in how it gets to us in our indulgence...very nicely written...glad to meet you at dverse today...
wow. good poem.
the melting of two objects, candy and a love... it melts in my psyche.
good work here. I like it.
thank you for sharing.
very clever.
This poetic metaphor is so, so perfect. I can taste a bit of the sting of ginger and relate it to relationship as you have done. Very skillfully worked. Thanks for bringing it to the pub. Victoria
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