R-ich cream, served in a shallow crystal bowl
A- delicious taste for the fervent soul
S-oft, spongy, soaked in sweetened milk quite cold
M-eant for special occasions and for all
A-lmonds strewn thin and spread like winter rain
L-ight cardamom that pleases on the tongue
A-ll stress and strains fade to ease body`s pain
I-ts every bite is like a soothing song.
Take me back to Yathrib, where the evening stars are clear
In that green oasis, tall tales that we might hear.
Sit around a fire, they knew how to have fun
Jewish poets recited, when their day was done.
Take me back to Khaybar, green against black rock
Date palms frame the castles, goatherds tend a flock
Hard morn in the fields then high sun drove indoors
Time to weave a rug or pray that the rain pours.
Take me back to Yemen
When it was under Jewish rule
When a farmers' life was close to heaven
and the highlands green and cool.
We'd have a grand old time in Adiabene
If we could go back in time
Queen Helena, also Jewish, ate well then
Saffron, Cardamom, lemon and lime.
There once were these worlds, but no more
Others moved in, others made war
Not much you can do, except try to recall
How it lived and flourished, rose to fall..
The world begins here,
at this worn wooden table,
its edges softened by years of hands
that set, cleared, and held.
Morning sunlight spills across plates,
coffee steam curling like old stories
we tell each other
between bites of bread and laughter.
Here, my mother folds love into dough,
my father seasons patience into stew,
grandmother hums the recipes of our past,
and unseen, ancestors linger in the scent of cumin and cardamom,
their whispers threading through the clatter of spoons.
Arguments dissolve in the hum of conversation,
joy rises with the scent of fresh coriander,
and tears, too, are gathered
between the bowls and shared silence.
This table teaches me:
life is breaking bread together,
listening when words fail,
holding space for each other,
and remembering
even in ordinary moments,
we are never alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
kitchen air
thick with love, ginger flair
rolled in Granny's hands, then baked just right.
cinnamon, clove, anise, cardamom blended tight
Granny shaped the dark rounds for Christmas night delight
dipped in powdered sugar soft as snow
children’s faces aglow
Ho! Ho! Ho!
The kitchen was filled with the fragrance of cinnamon
In the air there was the smell of Christmas
Cloves and ginger and cardamom
Lemon and orange flower honey
While outside it was snowing.
In the kitchen the fire was roaring
And the chilled sparrows came to feed
On the crumbs of Christmas cookies
I placed on the window ledge
They too knew it was Christmas
The world outside of man knew
Something special was happening
God had appeared once among men
So that man could become Christ-like
Yet all the rest of nature met Him every day.
They knew Him from the beginning of creation.
Aroma of warmth, Aha! A cup of tea
Brewing romance, Yes, it's bittersweet.
Cheers of tranquility soak in solace
Darjeeling dreams, in Assam serene.
Ecstasy infused, our senses relaxed
Family and friends, bond captivated.
Golden or black, it's a drink just divine
Have a cup of Tea...and all gets fine!
Induces a mood, adventures unwind
Jingling china cups, in morning time.
Kettle whistles, bubbling with steam
Loose tea leaves in hot water swim
Melting sugar in lemon and honey.
Night jasmine, or chamomile flavour?
Oasis in summer, green tea is amber,
Picnic reverie, A fireside tea in winter.
Quiet thoughts to sedate the beverage
Rainy afternoons, cookies get drenched
Solace of caffeine blend creamy cakes
Taste delicious, evanescent moments
Under crushed cardamom is sober joy,
Valentine kiss: thou tea-cup you're mine
Wrap of the elixir slows our fast mood,
Xanadu magic! the hot and cold allude
Yin and Yang stirring in balanced hold.
Zest of life is Tea Time...layers unfold.
“I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored.”
—Quote by David Attenborough
---------------------------------------------------------------
Three rivers meet here in ecstasy
five thousand feet above sea level
guarded by range of mountains and hills
where tea, coffee, rose, cardamom breeze
stupefies air, mist completes the drink.
With bated breath all that breathe just wait
for NeelaKurinji, fine blue blooms
blooming only once every twelve years
Will she survive more such proud seasons?
Put a little cardamom in it.
Spice it up!
Cloves are great for health.
Add that in too!
A pinch of cinnamon.
Wow, what a robust flavor!
Don’t forget Ginger!
Peel and feel the texture.
Drop it in!
Pitch black tea leaves.
It leaves you with a strong, but bitter sensation.
Hear those bubbles sing and dance while boiling,
Steam shoots up in the air out of the tea kettles’ spout,
like a rocket to the moon.
Yes, I can drink this to the moon and back.
A tasty concoction of flavor in this tiny little cup.
Simply just pleases your taste buds.
Stems from the country of India.
Spicy and yet so sweet.
Makes your day complete,
rather than incomplete.
Under the summer heat.
Or embracing the streaks of cold air,
while wrapped up and gulping,
then saying: “This beverage is just one of a kind”.
journey to another ocean
cardamom cinnamon motion
hint of masala
sip to enthral ya
chai my a spice laden potion.
MEDITATION HOUR
Love notes written on vellum
Music scores with smiles between lines
Written in symbols, circles or waves
When lids closed for an hour
I’m inside a strand of hair
A protein or atomic space
Neutrality speaks like
A pink lotus
teaches as my Muse
Its a cardamom pip
I disappear into its blackness
then the car door
Banged !!
At the hour
©ghairodanielspoetry2018
October Spice
Inspired October creates a recipe
For a sumptuous feast
A bouquet garni of paprika hued orange tupelo,
A fete of fragrant cinnamon shades in russet umber oaks,
Sprinkling tinges of savory gold in dancing ginger aspens
Then blending bits of sienna nutmeg tones to hickory,
Glazing scarlet cardamom frost on the sugar maple,
In a festival of allspiced sweet gum mixed delicacies
A banquet fest spread out in pungent cloves of beech offerings
Autumnal master stirs up a feast of bonne bouche in sassafras tones
With a smidge of saffron dusting on sable sycamores
Tidbits of chestnut fripperies - dainty delights wearing star anise harvests -
Sachet d’Epices of magenta dyed coriander colors burning bushes burgundy
In measures reflecting eternal delight - a twirling potpourri of praise.
9-27-21
Contest: October
Sponsor: Regina McIntosh
Thank you Jan for the inspiration!
What I’d like to give you is an ounce of my perfume,
what you’ll get is my permeating essence-filled scent
so you can discover who I really am.
Step in to my space,
study the aromachology of me,
become the nose to my inner "scentual" being.
A pungent trace of amber redolent with promise
is fragrant with what can be,
seducing you with a tangy sexiness,
inducing a deep-down-in-the-marrow reaction.
Step close, burrow into my soft vanilla neck,
breathe in the all of me.
Allow my red, red rose head notes to light a spark
to beckon you on to explore
every inside, outside inch of my skin.
Lean in, capture my cinnamon, cardamom heart notes
which reveal my truest nature.
Inhale my musky base notes,
then heed the primal-instinct-releasing call
to explore the jungle of my soul.
With cloying clarity,
discern the conundrum of sweet, savory me.
Grandpa Punjab was in quite a hurry
He'd run out of cardamom and curry --
Poor guy tried every place
Found only nutmeg and lace --
Told his wife that his memory was blurry
Poetic License:
every = 3 syllables
memory = 2 syllables
Stiff pleated fronds in concert rise
to wax under the April sun
and trill their canticles begun
in verses jade that they comprise.
Chartreuse of thorny branches splay
a tumult to belie the grace
that on display they interlace
like rose stems on a breezeless day.
Atop the thatched denuded bole
gush fountains cast in cardamom,
an opalescent diadem
that glistens on the mossy knoll.
In thus exuberant array
do cloistered peacocks mime ballet.
1/20/18
To sip sickly sweet cardamom
tea with cinnamon and honey
And eat cakes by the Parthenon
where the whole blue world is sunny
Not a single sweet iced daydream
not some drug induced affection
Can warm me like your mild sunbeams
and your smothering perfection
The potions that I, earthly, know
create happiness so it seems
But no gilded high nor base low
can match you in my fevered dreams
I snatch at the shiniest toys
I can't stop my sickly impulse
Of all the injectible joys
Your love is what spikes my pulse
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