The Chocolatey Heart

Tucked in the crisper’s corner
Sealed in a takeaway box
With the hotel’s compliments
A chocolate heart which once enclosed
Our wedding night’s candies and sweet romance
Has since exceptionally survived
One cancer scare
Two threatened miscarriages
Three childbirths
Four years of parenting
Five family “vacations”
Six anniversaries and whatnots
Seven days a week of
Hustle and bustle
Laughters and tears
Surprises and let-downs
And countless rounds of
Fiery quarrels and cold shoulders
In our arduous venture of finding out
What love really, really is
While the confection’s burgundy glaze
Is yet to mature into a Grand Cru
And despite having retained its glossy lustre
The musty heart is far from pleasant within
Perhaps, the stale, inedible reverie
Is preserved merely in our minds
For the yearning that
Our sweet, indelible memory
From that honeymoon suite
Will somehow be frozen in time

 

Colin Lee

With this week’s demands, I thought I wouldn’t be writing anymore – not until Lillian, our host for Tuesday’s Poetics, asked us to look into our fridge. Tell me, how could I not write about that chocolate memento from our wedding night’s dessert, which, over the years, my wife has so carefully preserved like a museum exhibit? (Update: A picture of the fossilised candy is now posted.)