A couplet of olives

Published on by Laura Bloomsbury 
Cocktails at six,  their first clink of a toast
almost spilling both

So sticky, so green, such a Belle Époque sheen
she'd seen in a French magazine

Peppery, spicy, yet enticingly sweet
a meeting, indiscreet

Her weakness Martini, his a Manhattan
two comme il faut olives, one green and one black

Absurd how their hands lingered over the snacks
that contact, electric

 Just a couple of olives, some discarded pits
-  just how they left it.

For Grace’s MTB prompt we are Breaking the Couple – our writing explores the different ways couplet lines can mismatch, either disrupting rhyme, altering meter or adding discontinuity
Title is a line from Stephen Sandy’s poem: Modest Proposals

24 thoughts on “A couplet of olives”

  2. I love character sketch of the olives and his/hers. The meeting so indiscreet, the verses roll off effortlessly. Thank you Laura.

  3. Oh yes, Laura, a couple’s couplet – and thanks for the olives! I especially love this jaunty couplet: ‘So sticky, so green, such a Belle Époque sheenshe’d seen in a French magazine’.

    1. thank you – an enjoyable prompt though it looks easier than it is only because the conjoined couplets kept coming to the fore so I had to keep breaking them up

  7. I found myself needing a dry martini and some yummy green olives after reading this equisite poem Laura!! Loved the intermingled french in the 4th stanza, tres bien!! 💛

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