A Taste of Love

I hunger for a taste of love

But find the cupboard bare,

I lick my lips for lingering crumbs

But love has none to spare.

Fill me up with sweet emotion

Ease the rumblings of my heart,

Fatten me with pure devotion;

Let pastry arms encrust my tart.

Clog my veins with sultry sighs

And ice my cake with kisses;

Don’t poison me with covert lies

Or flavourless dismisses.

Though starving now, I do admit –

I’ve tasted love before;

In gluttony I gorged on it

‘Till I was sick and sore.

The secret truth of food and love

Is found in moderation,

Excess is reminiscent of

The painful deprivation.

So take love with a pinch of salt

And switch to low-fat cream,

A healthy, balanced heart exalts

In love’s delicious dream.

Billie Dee