Bitter Farewell

You gave me a grapefruit.

Definitely.

After all the exotic fruits we ate together,

I'm now having a grapefruit on my own.

Its skin is uneven -

unjust is your behaviour.

I tear it open with my fingers, nails

Until the bitter juice spouts

Into my eyes wide open.

It is a prick

That makes my eyes sting.

Do you enjoy seeing me sting?

I'm having this grapefruit, twisted in pain.

Peeled and ripped into pieces,

One by one,

Slices full of freshness

It seems.

Reminding me of sweet delicious fruits we've once had

Together.

But after the first bite

The sour taste shocks.

Tears in my eyes.

Bitterness.

And still I swallow,

Eat every single piece of it

'Till it's gone,

Until it's finally gone.

© Vanessa Wohlrath

Diamante Poems

tea

hot, healthy

drinking, slurping, swallowing

A strong sugared Assam.

delightful

lies

sweet, charming

inventing, talking, growing

Lies become ill constructions.

discovering, revealing, hurting

harmful, sad

truth

Cinquains are poems which are appealing in their form as well as content. What I like about diamante poems is that they are precise and poetic at the same time. Moreover, the predetermined structure helps to write the poem and specify the message.

So, when I thought about writing a diamante poem about tea, I first started with brainstorming about what this beverage means to me, and what sort of attributes is has. The same I did with lies which happen to be charming at first glance but eventually become harmful constructions. The core of the lies-poem was therefore meant to mark the turning point within the poem. Lies are sooner or later revealed, so that the truth is the outcome of these exposed constructions. The lies-poem had to evince a development of thought. Writing down some adjectives and adjectival present participles made it easier for me to finally compose diamante poems such as tea and lies.

© Vanessa Wohlrath