Marmalade, Bread & Butter, Honey
By Isabella Soddu
This trio of poems explores big feelings through the lens of a small and nonsensical subject matter: breakfast condiments.
Marmalade
morning It’s half-past nine and you’re ready to dine on twenty minutes of misery Painted marmalade toast I watch you engrossed in the sunny weather advisory Your knife a pendulum I sing a soft hum but your eye gives a me quiver Day after day I’m wasting away, And your silence is spreading me thinner night dirty window panes made lipstick stains you delight in seedy affairs They think you sweeter than most, marmalade toast you never bothered to care My worth served on a platter; it didn’t matter Am I dressed in the costumes of sinners? How am I to cope I’m clean out of hope when I am spread so much thinner
Bread & Butter
Bread and butter you smiled at me
As our hands were broken by the maple tree
Your face was dappled with blemished light
And so we laughed together in warm delight
My words were betrayed by lust that day,
Maybe something inside told me not to say,
“Bread and butter back to you my love”
If requited, is bread and butter even enough?
Honey
I walked with my kitty cat umbrella
In my world of sugar and honey
Twirling in the bee’s wax pavement
humming echos into my world
Honey in my tea
Honey on his face
Honey on my brain
I’m stuck on honey,
I can’t twirl on sugarcoated pavement
So I hide behind my kitty cat umbrella
An echo becomes my world
Process
This collection of poems took root after I read “Sestina” by Elizabeth Bishop and was captivated by its repetitive style. This thread of inspiration led me to the poem “Honey,” and with it, the trio of poems about heartbreak and breakfast condiments.
Isabella Soddu
Isabella Soddu is a homeschooled junior in NYC whose writing explores the mediums of poetry, personal narrative and journalism. Her love of environmentalism encourages her to bridge the gap between writing and the natural world.