I had some short stories, poems and photographs to share ... and so here I am

A Pause For A Poem

 

once it’s gone

no one dares
take a knife
to the perfect
home-made tart,
too afraid of

erasing moments,
saying goodbye,
knowing too well
that once it’s
gone, it’s gone

keep it whole,
they tell their
host, make it
last, proof
of the bliss

of this night,
an immortality,
the sense that
we could never
be any happier


© Copyright, 2007. Seamus Kearney.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Did you make it? It looks full of sugary goodness!

S. Kearney said...

My better-half made it ... with plum cherries ... but probably lots of sugar as well. All those little suns!

Unknown said...

I was just thinking that Shamey, looks postively yummy...

S. Kearney said...

Oops! Just shows I didn't make the darn thing ... better half says they are cherry plums, which the French call a mirabelle. Google even comes up with "mirabelle plums" in English, which means that it's a kind of cherry plum. There, in case you wondered what plum cherries were! :) At least I didn't say they were apricots ... although I almost did!

L.M.Noonan said...

perhaps a chocolate crust would have been appropriate for your bitter sweet poem. Thank heavens for the photograph. One day in years to come, you'll see this, taste this and muse over this again. You'll wodner whose shoes are whose.
PS Thanks for soldiering on with my story. What a stoic creature you are. I blush with embarrassment when I think of some of the other literature you read.
Were the plums floating in a kind of custard?

The Wandering Author said...

All I can say is, the poem is as good as the tart looks to be...

Kay Cooke said...

Love this! So yummy - both words and picture.

S. Kearney said...

LMN,
A chocolate crust? It was naughty as it was, let alone double the pleasure! I've already forgotten who owns the shoes ... and soldiering on? More like a walk in the park! :)

Wandering Author,
Thank you. Was it a lousy tart? Oh dear. I don't remember. It was sweet, I hope. :-)

ChiefBiscuit,
Thanks. And no preservatives or additives! :)

Taffiny said...

I really like the poem. How wonderfully it holds the moment and pauses, still, to reflect, to smile at each face in turn around the room, and know these are the moments that fill us, that cushion us against future winter.

Cherry plums? I don't believe I have ever had one, certainly not in a tart. Wish my better half went around making such things, wish I felt inclined to call him my better half, of course he isn't going around referring to me as his better half either. (perhaps baked goods are required to inspire such sentiments)

*hope this doens't make a double post

S. Kearney said...

Taffiny,
Hi! Welcome! Thank you for your kind words. Yes, cherry plums are yummy, especially when they're cooked! And, yes, better half is a good way to describe my partner ... keeps me sane.