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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.
