​POETRY  -  
          With the Theme of Making or Breaking Bread

"Old oaks show off their muscled trunks
and pines may nudge a cloud"

                                     Photo by Weebly.com                                    

Ode to Maple Syrup
by Thomas O. Davenport

​​​Old oaks show off their muscled trunks and pines may nudge a cloud
But no tree has the maple’s ample reason to be proud
For it’s the only plant that can achieve this splendid feat:
The oozing into buckets of a dark and tasty treat
 
All through the frigid frostbite days the maple makes its sap
Then renders this most precious juice, which trickles out the tap
It tests our patience ‘ere it cedes its luscious sticky staple
We hunger for it months ahead, but we must wait ‘til April
 
Meanwhile, our pancakes naked rest, so barren on the plate
And French toast, sans le sirop doux, endures the selfsame fate
Our porridge, boring, brown, and bland, comprising chewy oats
Cries out for something sweet and smooth to slide it down our throats
 
With calcium and thiamin, potassium and copper
This tree provides a true health food, not just a waffle topper
So, if you doubt its benefits, I’m happy to report:
A drop of antioxidant in each and every quart
 
The subtle tones of toffee and mild hints of caramel
Enhance an amber essence and a most appealing smell
Or “bouquet,” if you please, to use the experts’ lexicon
Plus, rounded notes, a complex nose, of honey a soupcon
 
No other nectar has the power our palates thus to please
So thoroughly that sometimes we forget the calories
If giving up this breakfast boon would keep my body svelte
That’s not a sacrifice I’d make—I’d buy a longer belt

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​Thomas O. Davenport is an independent writer and business advisor living in Pasadena, California. He has authored three business books and many serious articles and now writes commentary (both prose and poetry) on business practices and social phenomena that amuse and bemuse him. Check out his writings on his website: http://www.worklodes.com.

​In addition to Vistas & Byways, his work has appeared in Bardball, Defenestration, Hobart, Lighten Up Online, WORK Literary Magazine, Workers Write! and in the anthology Love Affairs at the Villa Nelle (Kelsay Books, 2019. Also available on Amazon).
If you find his verses amusing, you can read more in his book Get the Hell to Work: Humorous Verse about Work & Life (Kelsay Books, 2020 and Amazon). 

Other works in this issue:
Poetry:
Two Poems:  Dough and Bread, Vegan Worship

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