Friday, March 22, 2013

Sugar


Street Posts, Seattle, WA.  Image © 2013 Jennifer Wagner


 
 
when your spindles turned
to char-
coal,
you wiped your eye-
lashes
and turned your hair crimson, cocoa,
blonde, black

melting in the freeze;
you, a candy in the dish,
purple and licked,
true confections on the tip
of your tongue

giving kisses
cold-
er than
they’ve draw you
in the lines
of your cheekbones
and jaw-
dropping curves

the ones
 no one keeps
past
yesterday

but still
you try to be, to do
everything they want

turning bucks
and, when honest, at your heart,
feel something
you’ve heard
is akin to love



Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Wagner
 

19 comments:

Brian Miller said...

you, a candy in the dish,
purple and licked,
true confections on the tip
of your tongue...really cool rhymes through these and nice flow of imagery....
hopefully everyone gets to feel love at some point you know...hurts to think some might not..

ayala said...

I like the imagery in this, a lovely piece. :)

Lisa A. Williams said...

Such a lovely poem!

Anonymous said...

"you, a candy in the dish,
purple and licked,
true confections on the tip
of your tongue"

I love the prosody here, it's outstanding.

The beginning reminds me of the different stages/affectations one can go through while seeking connections...hair color and make up, outward things changing as often as inward things.

anthonynorth said...

Lovely words with great imagery.

Fireblossom said...

It always makes me flinch when people discuss someone else dismissively, saying. "They're just a (whatever)" as if they weren't as human as them. You've given the lie to that kind of thinking, with this poem. Sometimes when we set out looking for something good in our lives, we end up with only an echo of it. Really nice portrait poem.

Just one thing: the third stanza doesn't track, for me. Maybe I'm reading it wrong."colder than they've draw you"....I'm not following.

Mary said...

Those last two stanzas took my breath away. Very tragic; and I do hope someday somehow she does find real love!

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

Reading your poem aloud is a true confection for my tongue!

A Dozen Whirls

Anonymous said...

I agree with MMT, reading this aloud is delicious sound,

Elizabeth

Abin Chakraborty said...

rhetorical flamboyance combined with compassionate acknowledgement of pain.at times, our fondness for words get the better of the though we are trying to evoke.here, if I am not mistaken, the verbal wonder never discards the grim reality which it seeks to capture.lovely.

Unknown said...

"you, a candy in the dish,
purple and licked,
true confections on the tip
of your tongue"

Great lines... this poem is chock full of amazing imagery. And then the ending... oh, I feel it, I too am hopeful love will be found.

LLM Calling said...

We keep on trying

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Very poignant, the human condition, often so lacking in what it needs most - love. Well done, kiddo.

Audrey Howitt aka Divalounger said...

This piece is just outstanding Jennifer--vivid and captures an emotional overlay so well--

Anonymous said...

Very real and true to life, sadly.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Some vivid imagery here.

Unknown said...

yet she survives. you offer us a new view on a scene we think we understand. nicely done.

TCPC said...

lovely! love is the true calling of the heart!

Anonymous said...

Ahh! amazing sweet surrenderd all-day sucker!