Friday 26 February 2010

A poem I don't remember writing

*found this today. Written a few years ago to beloved friends of mine.

I miss you so much

I would snuggle down in those words
if it wasn't 30 degrees
So I've put them in the freezer
Every once in awhile
I take them out
and give them a lick
There is a hint of saskatoon
and full moon first frost
stirred with rosehips and honey.
Tasted individually
The I holds the metallic purity of an icicle
snapped
from where it was hanging from the roof
of a lonely (but snug) cabin.
Both M's are all berry bliss
the sun finding a way to drip and swell.
I have to linger over ss
to coax out the cinnamon
the autumn waiting
bees tucking away their stings.
Y is surprisingly cherry flavoured
while
Ou
is milky, a cream stirred so long
and with such love
that it can only be eaten
scooped straight from the bowl
with a hooked finger.
The single small s
is bursting with
sun-warmed wild strawberry
The kind I crouched over and plucked
as a child
Popping their ruby bodies into my mouth
before performing the miracle -
my tongue crushing them against my palate
loving and destroying them
in one sweetsour second.
The o which follows
holds the tang of snow
freshly fallen
and grazed upon from where it is heaped
on the wooden railing.

u

how much can this letter hold?
The tang of it keeps changing
one second it's salty broth
like the perfect veggie stock
sipped from a hot spoon
Then
smoke
the flavour used to purify a space
in the spring
sandlewood
freshly peeled birch bark
pine needles
and the first shoots of dandelion leaves
The spices may alter
but u
always holds the zest
of an offering.
ch
is a fast-melting orange juice popsicle
clear ice crystals becoming exposed
as the juice is frantically sucked
It works if you make the sound
while breathing in
It becomes the noise of a locomotive
chugging backwards
through slush
Overall
Five single syllables
have made me feel so much better
And I am taking a moment
to thank you
before I head once again
to the freezer

8 comments:

Rosaria Williams said...

Holy G! This is superb poetry, lingering long on the tongue, soaking slowly in our senses.
How Extraordinary this is.

Thank you for sharing.
Do bring This out of the freezer soon.

Anonymous said...

sophia, i like this a lot. i am going to go read it again :)

Dale said...

:-)

Lovely.

Mike McLaren said...

Don't you just love finding gold when you least expect it, particularly when you forgot you had it.

Kay said...

I love the poem...Hey hurray for Canada in Olympics. I may be from U.S. but I love all things Canada!

Barry said...

Beautifully creative poem! Highly sensually evocative.

Helena said...

Wish I could write like this...! It's not so much poetry I end up with but limericks!

Lucy said...

My mouth is now watering - absolutely delicious and very loving.