Ghazal: Hot Chocolate Memories
Lora Butcher
I dipped a mug into the sunset, and I drank the cocoa
Brewed in the bright grandeur, I drank the cocoa.
That bit of warmth in the mourning dove winter,
A fire in the belly of night, when I drank the cocoa.
I went caroling in good will toward every neighbor
Until my heart took flight, and I drank the cocoa.
I stirred your brown irises with laughter and the
marshmallow whites of your eyes, then I drank the cocoa.
I trusted something sweet between us like my
Favorite flavor and a right cause, and I drank the cocoa.
Lora Butcher
Lora Butcher won first place in Chorus Of Selves, by Wingless Dreamer, for her flash fiction; second for poetry in the Bright Star Award 2024, and second in the Spring contest 2025 of the Poetry Society of Indiana. She has work forthcoming in Yellow: A Hue Are You anthology from Jambu Press, and Quillkeeper’s Press Shakespearean Sonnet Anthology. She has been published in Orchards Poetry Journal; The Hedge Apple Literary Magazine; Chaos, Crisis, and Conflict, by Moonstone Press; The Heartland Review; Ink To Paper Vol. 8 & 9; Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn, from Midwest Press, The Lyric, and Four Tulips.