MAP
#91
II.
Featured Poetry Theme: Chocolate
And
now, variations on a theme dear to my endorphins: Chocolate
1.
Chocolate by Hilda Sanet
Into
each life some rain must fall
We
all have cares to face
When
the dreams we dream do not come true
One
thing can take their place...
That's
chocolate!
When
you find that things depress you
And
they're causing you concern
Don't
give up... don't let it stress you
You've
a friend to which to turn...
That's
chocolate!
Your
son just got his chest tattooed
Your
daughter's pierced her tongue
Your
husband's got an attitude
Be
calm, don't get unstrung.
There's
chocolate.
If
your love affair has had its day
And
it ends up with a fight
One
thing can take your cares away
So
you make it through the night...
That's
chocolate.
Nothing
has that special magic
There's
no pill to take its place
Don't
wait till everything gets tragic
Reach
out for that one "sweet embrace"
That's
chocolate.
But
don't try to abuse it
Because
everybody knows
When
that special dress no longer fits
And
the zipper doesn't close
That's
chocolate!
2.
The Midas Touch by Carol Koss
I
do not stir my cocoa with a spoon
but
with tongue in cheek
naked
as Godiva I ride through
streets
of molten chocolate
Only
the moon glimpses
me
licking pale and pavement
I
grow warm and dark
Bittersweet
and
melt
©
1999 Carol Davis Koss
3.
reflections on my uncle louie
on
a thursday morning by Larry Jaffe
my
great uncle louis is
long
gone but never forgotten
living
his life in
relative
thoughts
like
rainbows for a cloudy day
uncle
louie came from my
mother's
side
of
the family tree
he
was more like a
grandfather
than
uncle to me
he
was grand in the tradition
of
being great
handing
people bootstraps
so
they could lift themselves
up
the mountains of life and
out
of the valleys
of
their despair
he
was a benevolent man
a
businessman and business
came
first except family
came
before that
he
wore grey suits and
black
knit button up shirts
strangely
casual
before
his time
my
fondest of memories
of
him were our trips
to
the neighborhood
candy
store
and
sadly there are no more
candy
stores where you
can
drink a chocolate malted
or
buy a pez dispenser
and
no counterman soda jerk
to
make you an egg cream
half
built
with
nostalgia and foam
my
greatest memories are of
my
great uncle louie holding
my
5-year-old fingers
in
him hand
as
we took our weekly trek
footsteps
caterwauling
the
pavement
to
our candy store of
chocolate
dreams
and
10 cent toys
made
in paradise
once
when i was sad he found
my
crying into the sidewalk
my
tears making mud pies
i
don't remember
why
i was crying
all
i know is uncle louie
came
to my rescue
i
clasped his finger
with
my tiny hand
as
we proudly walked
to
the candy store
our
candy store full of
children's
fantasy
to
make my smiles come alive
he
bought me this tiny rocket
that
you put caps in
it
would explode on impact
striking
the sidewalk like
bombs
away over tokyo
like
we used to say but would
not
dream of now
you
wound up and threw this
rocket
way high in the air
and
bam caps explode in
childish
shrills
i
walked with my uncle louie
him
smoking chesterfields
by
the dozen
i
think he smoked cigarettes
so
he would always have a
reason
to go back to our
candy
store
where
he bought them at less
than
a quarter a pack and did
not
worry about televised
diseases
catching up with him
no
he just liked going to the
candy
store to stock up on
hersheys
and snocaps and
junior
mints clark bars and
snickers
but no
3
musketeers for him
plenty
of pep-o-mint
lifesavers
though
he
saved many a child's life
with
his candy
not
to mention keeping
an
entire fleet
of
dentists in business
©
1997 lgjaffe
4.
Stargazer by Stazja
One
night in December
the
Southern sky
became
a parade ground of planets
marching
across the heavens.
Stargazers
stood at attention
amazed
by this astronomical phenomenon
so
rare
so
close to millennium's end,
some
read it as a prophecy:
solar
system sending out
its
all star cast of planets
for
a limited engagement.
I'm
no Galileo, even though I know
a
heavenly body when I see one.
As
for zodiac readings
I'm
Leo myself
and
might fit the profile
but
I don't believe
that
human events
or
my own destiny can be
divined
by alignment
of
planets and stars.
Don't
get me wrong
I'm
as intrigued as any
amateur
stargazing earthling.
Saturn
was always so sexy in rings
and
Mars was a chocolate bar...
No,
wait, that's not what I meant to say.
I
was talking about my fascination
with
planets and stars and outer space,
wondering
what it really means.
Does
anyone besides me
get
home sick
remembering
distant galaxies?
©
1998 stazja