Cinnamon
read while the sun sets
Blood in my throat
wastes time. I'm lying.
I frankly don’t care if he finds me!
My mouth sounds, my body sounds.
*
Find anything else. Look at the red sky
when the sun bleeds for him. I can
have what wasn’t for me, I can have it.
*
Each cut has its own name
I mutter under my breath
*
as the fire pit crackles. Soot
between the browned leaves
*
does not remember September,
that man in the picture of the farm
before the smoke
*
but I take what the sky gives
and what it won't let me have.
Every bite, the unripe windfall apple.
Despite everything, I do miss him terribly.
About the Creator
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More stories from Joe Nasta | Seattle foodie poet and writers in Poets and other communities.
Off the Book
It ended like every other stupid idea. Badly, and alone. I’m researching digital confession ethics, he said. A tech ethicist. He gestured at floating data I couldn’t see then pulled out a physical notebook. Actual paper, fountain pen. He held it up like he was showing me scripture.
By Nicky Frankly4 days ago in Fiction
Comments (16)
Wow, this landed for me.
I can relate to missing someone special, even if it's hard.
Cinnamon is a beloved spice with a range of uses and benefits, but it should be enjoyed in balanced amounts to fully appreciate its flavor and potential health effects.
Nice work! Congrats on TS!
Eery finesse! Congratulations on your Top Story: I subscribed.
Beautiful.
Very evocative... My favorite part was: "does not remember September, that man in the picture of the farm" 💜💜💜💜💜💜
Cary on
Hey fellow PNWesterner ( I'm in the South Sound :)) this piece was gorgeously crafted! Congrats on your Top Story!!
So not what I was expecting. Excellent though.
This is beautiful. Congrats on the TS.
Mmm…cinnamon…
This poem evokes a raw intensity, blending imagery of pain, loss, and a strange, resigned defiance. The "blood in my throat" and the reference to the "red sky when the sun bleeds" create a visceral connection between internal suffering and the external world. The repetition of taking what the sky gives and "what it won't let me have" suggests a deep conflict—between longing and acceptance, memory and forgetting. The unripe windfall apple and missing someone "terribly" despite everything adds a poignant sense of yearning. Beautifully complex and hauntingly emotional. Congratulations🎉🎉🥳
Amazing poem
got me!
So, I'd never heard of this poet but I too am now curious. Nice reading of his poem and nice homage above, if that's what it is? Either way, my interest is piqued.