Swarthy, Silky, Smoky, Smooth

 

I’m a 95%-er when it comes to dark and bitter.  I’m your girl, so lay it on me.  You go on and have that cry; I’ll hold your hand when the proverbial sh-t hits the industrial-size fan.  Sometimes I go well with cream in the cup, most times I don’t.  I won’t sugarcoat—but at least I won’t be bland.  And you’ll remember this night sexier, silkier than you expected.  You’ll probably even wish daylight would knock on someone else’s door for that early morning run you forgot you committed to, choosing instead to let you stay wrapped up in sweet swarthiness, letting you savor the last bit of darkness down to the last crumb, the last drop.

 

smoky coffee, dense chocolate

how such dark things

can make me feel so light

 

 

 

© 2026 Jennifer Wagner

 

dVerse Poetics: Comfort Food

 

image above created by me using copilot 

Pulse

 

After the departure

 

of winter,

 

of cara caras—

 

the arrival of white blossoms,

pollen, dusk moths,

bats diving for seconds.

 

After the departure

of my dark-mute-crash

in your absence—

 

the arrival of sweet,

prickly pear cactus,

green-purpling in tangelo sun.

 

After the departure

of cold,

of hibernation—

 

the arrival of migration,

your ready arms cloaking

the naked-bleed of me.

 

After the departure

of bleak season,

waning spirit—

 

the arrival of glittering sky

beyond palm bones—

and my ribboned heart

 

stitched whole

in the pulse

of your hand.

 

 

© 2025 Jennifer Wagner

 

Shay’s Word Garden

Poetic Bloomings