A Taste of Chocolate

In honor of the last two days of National Poetry Month, I created a pair of poems about the word chocolate. Being a third generation baker, my love for creating tasty confections, especially with chocolate, reaches far back into my childhood. I was my Italian grandmother's baking assistant, a sales clerk in a bakery during high school, a confection taster for my creative mother who was a celebrated baker, an educator/mother of two with a penchant for baking, and now a consultant/blogger who writes about literacy, learning, and life with a couple of posts reflecting my love of baking: Food for Thought and Are You Open to the Word Change? 

Chocolate Cake

Layers

of dense chocolate

Cascade in richly laden 

morseled memories,

Each taste tracing frosted images:

timeless traditions

decades of time-wrapped thoughts

baking implements, worn with years

hands, swollen by age, full of love

carefully crafted confections.

Each taste eliciting feelings

 and a lingering lick or two.

        

Here is a found poem, crafted from advertisement readings:

Chocolate in My Garden

Fine, fibrous texture
Elegant,
Rich in dark brown tone,
Color-enhanced dyes,
Environmentally-safe,
Consistently sized
But not morsels 
Tasty to eat.
Still a chocolate layer
Of delight,
Holding fresh color
For beds of plantings. 

Chocolate in my garden-
Accenting my landscape,
Giving vibrance,
Lasting longer than a year.
Providing nutrients,
As the protector of roots
While maintaining moisture,
Chocolate in my garden
Adds a beautiful touch
To garden hues.

Have you guessed
Its identity?
Clues for you:
Made from natural hardwoods,
Not cocoa beans
Keeps weeds at bay.
Are you surprised to learn
That my garden could have
Chocolate-Colored Mulch
to luxuriate in?

And now both my garden and I can be indulged with chocolate all year long!