
What sacrifices have you made in life?
Oh dear, so many, many sacrifices. Here, let me count the ways. This morning, for breakfast I sacrificed a banana, followed by an orange. Last night, for supper, I sacrificed a lobster – and it was lovely. I thanked its spirit for allowing me to nourish myself upon it. Then, for lunch, I sacrificed three eggs and cooked them in an omelet. You know what they say “You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs”. Nor can you be a robber baron without breaking legs. Sorry. Wrong post. That belongs under “Have you ever broken any bones?” To which my answer is – “Only those of other people.” Maybe I’ll write that one later. But for now, two poems for your entertainment!
Squeezed Orange
Clock greets the hours
with hammer blows,
on a quivering anvil.
Rooster crows
his thick, rich cocoa rico:
morning provides
smells of roasting beans.
Squeezed orange –
glass fills with a golden liquid,
as fierce and sweet
as sunshine on a branch.
A wasted globe,
this orange bath robe,
spent and exhausted,
soon to be transubstantiated.
Breakfast
Yesterday,
I sacrificed a chicken.
Unborn,
it lay within
it’s calcium cocoon,
dormant,
a volcano sleeping
beneath thick snow.
Tap, tap, tap,
the silver spoon
bounced off
the hairless skull:
a sudden crack,
a spurt of orange blood.
Note: This poem is taken from my poetry collection Obsidian’s Edge – From Morning to Night: A Day in Oaxaca