We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

18.7.25

Cheers

 
















She brings me 

mandarin liqueur,

the fruit grown

in her own garden. 


I pour it into

a crystal sherry glass.

(All my liqueur glasses 

are broken or lost – except 

the one I keep as a chalice

in my travelling altar:


a sandalwood box with also

a tiny dagger, incense,

a round white stone, 

a small quartz point,

a woven cloth

to set them out on…)

 

The texture is lush, the taste

bursts on the roof of my mouth

both rich and delicate, spicy

and sweet. I breathe it in.




Sharing with dVerse Open Link Night #388 And, as I was late that  time and most people missed it, again at Open Link Night #392.


18 comments:

  1. Cheers! Thanks for sharing that sensory experience of the madarin liqueur.

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  2. A sensory delight! I don't think I've ever had mandarin liqueur.

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    Replies
    1. I had never had it before. I think it may have been my friend's own recipe.

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  3. How delicious that sip seems and a wonderful glimpse of your cheers moment - Jae

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  4. Rituals and treasures, the loving ornaments of life!

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  5. Oh my goodness, I needs me some of this mandarin elixir!! *smacks lips*

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    Replies
    1. I think we all do! But not generally available and I don't know the recipe.

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  6. Sounds like a tasty potion. Perhaps, it could heal our weary hearts.

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  7. Some things are only memories packed in that traveling altar - but there's a chalice to recall it and this poem to say it.

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