05-01-2014, 06:05 PM
Scrumping for Jam.
Wait for the moment when the moon
is in the last stage of assent,
then enter another mans field,
disguised as the ward of the chancellor.
Select and take the best fruit,
the audited growth of his labour.
Next, break down the door
of the household store and steal
all of life’s sweetness.
Rough cut the fruit and portion
up with the sweeteners.
Make sure each batch is stripped
of seeds that might be re-sown.
Now boil it all up under pressure.
Keep stirring to get the dross
to the top and agitate each precious
drop with a slotted spoon.
Given the time it takes to make,
collect several cases of different
fruit from each farm.
Assemble your chosen receptacles,
decant only after all the sugar is taken up
and absorbed. When each pot full,
screw down the tops with as much muscle
as you can muster. The drop in pressure
as the heat goes out of the case facilitates
a tight seal and full lid closure.
A note to Nottingham’s men
Beware of the high court ceiling fan
and of flawed jam jars,
laced with air bubbles, to feed a last gasp.
Full closure on made jam is a dirty job
it can unexpectedly expand
when unseen micro cracks
shatter into the silence
of the empty fruit box.
Wait for the moment when the moon
is in the last stage of assent,
then enter another mans field,
disguised as the ward of the chancellor.
Select and take the best fruit,
the audited growth of his labour.
Next, break down the door
of the household store and steal
all of life’s sweetness.
Rough cut the fruit and portion
up with the sweeteners.
Make sure each batch is stripped
of seeds that might be re-sown.
Now boil it all up under pressure.
Keep stirring to get the dross
to the top and agitate each precious
drop with a slotted spoon.
Given the time it takes to make,
collect several cases of different
fruit from each farm.
Assemble your chosen receptacles,
decant only after all the sugar is taken up
and absorbed. When each pot full,
screw down the tops with as much muscle
as you can muster. The drop in pressure
as the heat goes out of the case facilitates
a tight seal and full lid closure.
A note to Nottingham’s men
Beware of the high court ceiling fan
and of flawed jam jars,
laced with air bubbles, to feed a last gasp.
Full closure on made jam is a dirty job
it can unexpectedly expand
when unseen micro cracks
shatter into the silence
of the empty fruit box.