Melted Chocolate Days (1985)


Rejection Letter: Poetry Canada Review 1987

1.

She sets the table,
methodically, slowly,
unbearably tedious,
you sit shuffling silently
waiting for the call:
“Supper’s ready!”

2.

Greedily hurrying grace
so you can stuff your face,
tender meat, hot steaming rolls,
vegetables reluctantly eaten
to get to dessert,
finally, the wait is over:
“Dessert!”
Savory chocolate fudge
melting in your moist mouth,
praying for infinite chocolate saliva
to make every day
Another Chocolate Day.

3.

Time has passed,
now, a forlorn craving
for a proper meal,
TV dinners cheaply bought,
no fresh fish recently caught,
vague recollections
of those chocolate days
lost in a childish haze,
unemployed, temporarily,
“Food’s too expensive
in this capitalist state!”
shouts a fellow bum
while you look for work in vain
living in a state of abdominal pain,
those chocolate days
have melted into a liquid past
that has been solidified by:
addiction, vice, alcohol.

Melted Chocolate Days - drawing by Harvey Dog 2020

4.

Easy rebellion,
a few shouts, threats of escape,
you have to be free to live your own life,
the past has been too unreal
now people don’t care how you feel,
no more: “how was your day?”
You’re on your own, alone,
dreams quickly crumble into desperation,
too proud for a reconciliation,
the ones who love you,
the ones who really care
stand waiting,
but the past
has melted into something too good to last.

5.

Walking the streets
in a haze, in a daze,
no more dreams,
survival the only thought,
TV dinners expensively bought,
no more cheques on the way
to make it another chocolate day,
no more infinite chocolate saliva dreams,
instead, dreams of death, senility,
another crazy young man,
too fucking proud, too fucking loud
to make it alone in an endless crowd.

6.

She stands waiting,
desperately, painfully,
unbearably saddened,
you shuffle on silent sidewalks
deafened to the call:
“Supper’s ready!”


Notes

  • Included is a rejection letter from Poetry Canada Review. There was a nice note from poet Barry Dempster that he liked the poem and that the metaphor was well-sustained. A positive rejection letter! Thank you Barry!
  • Grammarly’s tone detector lists “Worried, Disapproving, Anxious”. I guess? 😂

Written: 1985


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