Cha

No HEBREW root so well can suit ;
More quickly taught, less dearly bought.
Yet studied twice a day.

This leaf, from distant regions sprung,
Puts life into the female tongue.
And aids the cause of love.

Phillip Freneau

Cruciform character;  flowering daughter of orient Wisdom’s delight
A hymn to thee, beloved bush and Tree of Life, I raise.
May thy plucked leaves forevermore renew their gracious budding
Even as thy captured progeny produce, in death, thy praise
Like captive Hebrew exiles driven far from Zion’s hill
Loving still their Judge and punisher, recalling golden days…
In this cup of glorious elixir, infusing life with cheer
Asia’s attributes unveil, while I upon her marvels gaze.
Serenity enfolding, I forget all those before
In a rapturous caress I swiftly yield to her embraces
Nevermore to recall the vulgar bean of Abyssinian lore
Ethiopian witch and desert hag, dark seed of nomadic races!
Now I hail the truth, whose leaf I love: L’chaim to the brew I adore
So sit with me and sip some cha. Let us kiss her myriad faces.
I scribe these lines in gratitude to that plant who soothes and inspires
Sweet Camellia, my love…  I read in the leaves your ascending triumphant traces.

PROMPT 17:

write a poem that contains the name of a specific variety of edible plant

 R O M A N C E S

Idealize them once they’re gone.
Pity is bestowed by victors;
Evening thus recalls the dawn—
Truth revised by truth’s depicters.

Swooning for the Noble Savage, 
That comes later. First comes war.
Conquerors arrive, then ravage:
Dominance worth fighting for. 

The conquerors, in retrospect,
Describe their subjugated foe
In shades politically correct
(After they’re defeated, though…)

Ambushes and scalps for dinner—
Pretty pictures of the past:
Airbrushed touch-ups from the winner;
Real depictions cannot last.

Idealizing distant lives
While snug inside your comfy home
Is fine; your living standard thrives.
But Gaul had other views of Rome . . .