Poem a Month for January 2016

What could be nicer to waking up to toast and marmalade on a winter's day?  Viveka Bowry's sensual poem captures her joy in making her own marmalade - you can almost smell and taste it. It brings the warmth and light of the Mediterranean into all our lives on the first day of the New Year. 

I sat in my kitchen preparing to make the Seville marmalade.  It was such a heart warming project to undertake in the depths of a cold, dark  Derbyshire January. The intense  light, warmth and lushness of Seville permeated my being.  I anticipated the smells, the taste, and the rich colour, I felt inspired to reach out and share this special moment with others. - Viveka Bowry


Liquid Gold Sun

Squeezing out the juice
As if liquid gold sun is pouring into this Victorian dwelling
Of a Derbyshire winter cottage
Mediterranean abundance drips onto the floor
Slight unnoticed breaks in my skin sting
From the bitter Seville tang
A yearly January ritual unfolds
Spreading filigree tendrons
Of last year’s Southern European sun into the kitchen
Helping to ease in the promise of Spring
Which at this point seems too far away
And knowing the aroma of bubbling marmalade
Will gift me hearty energies tomorrow
And orange sunshine will once more sit in jars
To bless the palate over the coming year

by Viveka Bowry
January 30th 2015

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