Chocolate Cake

Luscious, melting chocolate,

Drizzles from my spoon,

Lovingly, creating a lattice,

Spreading across my creation,

A triple chocolate,

Six layered cake,

Stacked high!

With the sweet, smooth lightness of whipped white chocolate,

Creamy, milk chocolate mousse filling,

And dark designs,

Piercing the outer layer,

Making the ensemble…

A gourmet display,

The possibilities for my mouth,

Cause it to fill,

A distant bell rings,

Ignoring it,

I continue my work,

Creating next,

A perfect rose,

To set upon the crown,

More urgently the bell rings, three more times!

Regretfully, I wander backwards,

Admiring my work as I aim for the door,

Greeting me is my child,

All muddy and clothes torn,

With a frantic gaze that can only announce,

One thing…

As she races past me,

Firmly closing the door,

I return to my art,

Only to stand mystified by what greets me,

There are bits…no, bites missing!

And left in the wake of chocolate crumbs,

Are a set of tiny footprints,

I can feel my face enflame,

My anger at losing perfection,

I stalk the rodent to its home,

Marching through my house,

Tracking the dark impressions,

Until at last, I reach the patio door,

That SOMEONE has left open!

And turn my gaze upwards,

To the overhanging tree,

Where sits a happy squirrel,

Wearing a chocolate mustache on its face!

 

*First printed in The Literary Gourmet Revisited, Beret Days Press, 2017.

Contest winner, The Ontario Poetry Society