Have you ever loved a food so much you wanted to inhabit it?

I guess there’s truth in the saying, “Home is where the cacao is.” 🙂

HOME SWEET HOME

by Kate Bingham

I need a chocolate bar I can live with,
nothing too big, a red-brick biscuit base, perhaps,
south-facing, on a quiet, tree-lined residential street
where parking late at night won’t be a problem.

Nothing too crumbly either. I don’t want
to be sweeping up bits of cornice all weekend
and pestering the surveyor with each new crack
in the milky bar matt emulsion shell.

It’s got to be the sort of place I can forget about,
with cocoa solids minimum 65 per cent
and nougat foundation limed with soya lecithin
cement and bourneville guttering

no matter what the cost because you can’t price
peace of mind and that means no original features,
nothing too fancy, nothing architect-designed.
There’s only me, I know exactly what I’m looking for,

not space so much as surface area, a honey-comb interior,
with wafer walls and butterscotch parquet
leading from room to room, each mouthful lighter,
sweeter than the one before and breathed, not tasted,

like a puff of icing sugar. Coming home
will be a hit, a score. I’ll drop my hand-bag in the hall,
tie back my hair, lie down and lick the floor.

~ from Cohabitation (Seren Books, 1998)

*   *   *

It’s always a treat to “discover” a new-to-me poet, and Kate Bingham’s winsome and witty verse was just what I needed to chase away my cabin fever and winter blues. (When in doubt, think brown, and don’t be afraid to cross over to the dark side.)

After nibbling on this poem, I began to fantasize about the choco-cabin of my dreams.

Hmmm, something warm and cozy,

all furnishings made of the finest Belgian chocolate:

Some people like to wear their lampshades, I like to eat mine.

What’s a home without tasty flowers?

I must have a bottomless chocolate teapot that pours and pours all day,

and good quality flatware. Why just lick your spoons, when you can lick your knives and forks too?

What else? A nice old-fashioned rotary phone in case I need to order take-out or call Mr. Firth. For any robo-calls or annoying telemarketers, I’d eat the receiver.

Yes, a good tool kit to tinker and fix,

and a piano (I can play Schumann’s “The Happy Chocolate Farmer” by heart)!

Oh yes, this is where I’d sleep (and dream about mountains of dark sea salt caramels).

Mr. Cornelius would sleep here:

Each morning I’d hop out of bed, slip into something comfortable,

click my heels together,

turn on my laptop, then write the tastiest blog post ever, bar none.

Now, you may eat this post, if you like, along with a Mississippi Mud bar:

 

Tell me, where do you live?

*   *   *

Poet and Author Robyn Campbell is hosting today’s Roundup. Check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up in the blogosphere this week. Hope you find the chocolate bar of your dreams!

 

 

*   *   *

This post is also being linked to Beth Fish Read’s Weekend Cooking, where all are invited to share their food-related posts. Slip on your chocolate dress and come join the fun!

 

——————————————-

Copyright © 2015 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.