Mary

All Summer long, as children we'd cry

With joy at her presence and cling to her side.

The treats would roll in and tickle our zeal

She'd lay out affection with each glistening meal.

Ice cream in waves, accented with peach -

We'd slurp up furiously all in our reach.

Frangipane offerings, all glistening in tar;

Sugar coats of icing hugging each bar

Of caramels and chocolates and fondants all slick,

Rose-blossom candies, all clotted and thick.

Ice rosettes adorning each savoured selection,

Strawberries and currants, candied to perfection.

Pies of apple, and pumpkin and berry.

Small, iced tartlets, jeweled with a cherry.

Cinnamon waves rewarded each bite,

Our teeth would cloy smooth rolling Turkish delight,

Presented in boxes all pasted and tied

In ribbons all flourished and curled down the side,

In choices of violet, of mint, of rose

All sparkling in sugar, nestled under their bows.

Through cellophane windows they'd wait to be chosen

Over neopolitan cream, patiently frozen.

Sorbets dotted with seeds from blackberries bulging -

Our tummies grew likewise from overindulging.

Still the Summer was young, bringing bite after bite

Of Mary's sunshine, delaying the night.

Over clementines huge, our appetites sighed,

Our hunger grew smaller with each sample tried.

Drinks spilling bubbles and flavoured with fruit,

Overflowed into puddles from each tall, glass flute.

Crepes clothed tight in butter and honey

And cream whipped solid, yet gooey and runny.

Struddles in zigzags, crumbles all heaped

In citrons and dates and toffee which seeped

All warm and dusted in a dense cocoa lid

With figs spilling freely, while apricots hid.

Pineapple cubes twinkled with snow,

Marzipan cherries all neat in a row.

Pink puffed-up pastries swelled with their guts

Of almonds and syrups, flowing from cuts

In each golden lattice which boasted a crown

Of coconut shavings, toasted and brown.

From peppermint pedestals rose a gingerbread flourish -

She served on for days, eager to nourish.

Next there came pancakes, where out from each lip

White chocolate would tumble and coffee would slip

To form into trifles of tiramisu,

All garnished in almonds, in towers that grew

Higher and taller as Mary worked faster

Beaming out caverns of crisp baked alaska.

Cakes reaching tiers of no less than twenty

Cemented with curd and sprinkled with plenty

Of hazelnuts whole and lemon peel brisk,

She'd go on for days with apron and whisk,

Laughing out jams in every flavour

To conjure up tarts her children would savour.

Her labours were polished and showed no sign of stopping

Frosting everything sweet with a marmalade topping.

Profiteroles boasting a dark, frothy garnish,

Peppermints chilled in a sugar mint varnish.

Strong lemonades in julip and lime

With cool, pressed hibiscus and citrus chopped fine.

Banana milkshakes made a frothy lagoon,

Treacle hung like a child to the leg of its' spoon.

Curled tight like a shell came each shy Swiss roll

Before grapefruits picked fresh, melons you could bowl.

Grapes in their waves made an ombré of colour,

We sampled each choice and our tummies grew fuller.

There came key lime fancies and cupcakes dressed neat

In tin foil skirts, each topped with a sweet.

Sherbet fizzed freely like flowing champagne,

Gumdrops in all colours fell down with the rain

of pic 'n' mix favourites that we caught with glee,

Before picking down cherries from the proud Bakewell tree.

Mugs of hot chocolate wore their froth like a hat,

Creamy sombreros, making us fat.

Our stuffed-up stomachs begged for one last bite,

Weighing up flavours with childish delight.

And while we licked fingers, content from our feed,

A forgotten pomegranate coughed up a seed.

And a second, and third, till there lay in a pool

Twelve tiny garnets, and each crimson jewel

Bathed in the juice of its' terminal host,

Shimmered and whispered their inviting boast

Of sweetness, of ripeness: "Come, won't you taste?"

But we were crammed full; they'd all go to waste.

So Mary picked one and held to her lips

The small red bead and swallowed the pips.

Red spilled from her mouth in a ghastly river,

Tears join the current, her chest starts to quiver,

Her eyes lose their focus, her hair turns to white,

Her breath growing colder with every slow bite.

With six seeds swallowed, her throat swells shut,

A heaving objection is roared from her gut.

She shrinks in her stature, with her skin all stretched tight,

Her skeleton creaking as her organs all fight

To escape from their places, while teeth chatter fast,

She spits out a breath, then draws in her last.

We grapple and jostle and implore her to stay,

A darkness falls over, as night triumphs day.

I hold her with longing, but know she has past

And as I turn to the window, it's Winter at last.