Matisse
Where Does Love Go When It Goes?
One would hope it stings and stings and stings
and then fades as its way. In a merciful realm
this would be. We’d hide only pockets of sweets,
crinkled with red opaque cellophane. Chewing
on reveried, sunny days, their wrappers over
our eyes, calorie-free nums that don’t rot your teeth.
Those chewy nougat centers though, they crack;
bitterness pulls out fillings that distract, epithets
on root canals numbed by novocaine by dozens.
You pray dentist drills every bit of still living pulp;
yet in bite of mulejaw, wee bit of hope stays, even
if it festers and swells the gums. An emptiness
of simple death feels like too much to overcome.
Tao-Talk 
A great poem Li I loved all of your descriptive words and phrases throughout the poem! Fabulous! 💜💜
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CA, thank you <3
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Very profound example of equating love with a sticky toffee.
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Sadje, thank you <3
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You’re welcome dear friend
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Addicting …. so good and so bad at the same time. Loved the line about crinkled cellophane. Good one, Lisa.
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Nancy, many thanks. Love your comment.
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That’s cool to know, Lisa. You’re very welcome!
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I love you rcreative take on this one, Lisa.
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Dwight, thank you very much. I felt it would be impossible to write a poem to the question, so the muse helped me along.
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Great! You are welcome.
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You duped me with the sound and use of colour in ‘crinkled with red opaque cellophane’, Lisa, but I can’t say I like the idea of nougat pulling out fillings. And definitely not ‘root canals numbed by novocaine’! The pain you describe is so palpable. No wonder we cling on to love, even when it’s going out the door.
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Kim, not sure what you mean about being duped with sound and use of the colour, I was trying to somehow use the cellophane as “rose-colored glasses” that we like to look through when we don’t want to see or acknowledge the truth. Absolutely why we cling on to love. Thank you so much for the prompt, which was most challenging, and your thoughtful, as always, insights <3
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My pleasure, Lisa. The reason I wrote ‘duped’ was because of the ‘rose-coloured glasses’!
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oh ok! Thanks for explaining.
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one of those hurts so good situations… I loved this.
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V, glad the story resonated with you <3
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“yet in bite of mulejaw, wee bit of hope stays, even
if it festers and swells the gums.”
Torture, the hope and the pain, neither in their moments of equal measure. A visceral examination, Li, of where and how love goes.
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Dora, love is the trifecta, you’re right, especially when it wanders off. Thank you, my friend <3
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You’re welcome, Li. 🤗
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<3
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It always finds new places to hide. (K)
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