Savour or Sell
Breakfast eggs in cups by Royal Worcester,
toast, on racks, eighteenth century servers,
a gadroon dish or a patterned tazza,
crocks with old names and a hint of nostalgia.
Fired at blazing point, pears, apples, berries,
celebrated china plums and cherries,
velvet glows soft, shines luscious as silk
while gilded caudle cups embrace warm milk.
Porcelain fruits beneath hunting puddings,
traditional fare good for first-footing;
chicken fricassee, pea soup in tureens,
a hen’s nest in jelly on country scenes.
Hundreds of years in which artisans paint
vessels for fine foods no one can date;
a glazed seduction, even, smooth, lustrous
hand painted patterns, motifs so sumptuous.
Teatime attended by pastries and cake,
cook’s in the kitchen she bakes and she makes
carnival fruits dipped in clear caramel
served on ceramics, to savour or sell.
By Polly Stretton
Polly’s poems have been printed in numerous anthologies and featured online. Polly’s latest poetry collection ‘Growing Places’, was published in 2021 by Black Pear Press. She is the Chair of Open University Poets, and a member of The Society of Authors.