Self-Portrait with Umeboshi
Our resemblance strengthens each day.
Reddened by sun and shiso,
seasoned with salt,
we preside, finding
comfort in failure. Or does
the subjugation of one’s flavor for another’s
define defeat? The bitter, the sour, the sweet
attract and repel
like lovers separated by distances
too subtle to see.
Filling space becomes the end.
What do you learn when you look through the glass?
Knowing my fate, I say fallen. I say earth.
Ah, simplicity! When I was a child my mother would occasionally serve rice balls in which a single mouth-puckering umeboshi rested at the center. These have long been a favorite, but I admit that umeboshi might be an acquired taste. Commonly called “pickled plums,” ume aren’t really plums but are more closely related to apricots. I cherish them.
“Self-Portrait with Umeboshi” first appeared in the Silver Birch Press Self-Portrait Series (August 2014), was included in the subsequent print anthology, Self-Portrait Poetry Collection, and also appears in my chapbook, If Your Matter Could Reform.
Music: “Senbazuru” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
O at the Edges 
‘separated by distances / too subtle to see’ brings me to the edge of memories… a land always beginning and ending.
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Thanks, Jan. And it’s always a bit hazy, for me.
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Breathtaking: the poem, the recitation… “Or does
the subjugation of one’s flavor for another’s/ define defeat?”
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You are very kind. Thank you.
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You are welcome!
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A flash of reality bitter, sour, yet sweet in your assessment of lovers – separated by distances too subtle to see. Such distances exist also between an individual’s inner family members (personality parts).
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Oh, yes. They exist everywhere.
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Follow back!!
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Damn I clicked so fast when I saw it was a recording! I really loved this, and the lines that led up to and: “like lovers separated by distances too subtle to see” are so beautiful but also made me feel sadness. So good.
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I’m so pleased you liked this. Those subtle spaces can overwhelm us.
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An awesome poetry sir ❤️
And plzz do view my blogs too
➡️https://lifesamazingsecretsblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/01/why-you-should-never-ever-lose-hope-in-life/⬅️
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Thanks very much!
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