We
made fruit mince today. Christmastime is soothingly melting towards
us over the horizon, so we prepare with citrus peel and brandy.
November. Perhaps it is not yet time for carols, but maybe for Pavane
and Christmas-flavoured adagios? We know a few good ones. And so they
play.
They
play the way the flavours of fruit mince mingle in your mouth.
Tossing and turning in a sea of colour; reds and greens and golds,
mixing, folding, wrapping into one another. I put a spoonful of raw,
pungent fruit into my mouth and it turns into something
extraordinary:
OPERA.
I
can almost hear the voices swelling in a vibrant, incomprehensible
language that somehow doesn't need translating. Dried fruit swollen
in butter and brandy numb my tongue; warm it down the throat; settle
it inside me. Christmas is coming. Just wait a moment while I
calm the flood of '!!!' that has risen, unbidden, into my lungs and
heart. Opera in my mouth. Strong, dramatic, exquisite song with a
sharp, gorgeous stab of nostalgia. This is the land-ahoy moment of
Christmas. Somehow, it is also opera. But don't ask me how. It just
is.
4 comments:
"The land-ahoy moment for Christmas". Brilliant.
Imogen, this is brilliant. I always feel so refreshed after reading your posts, like I've just sat gazing at the sunset (or like someone's put fruit mince in my mouth and opera in my heart). Keep writing, dear friend.
Cassie xoxoxo
I just really love this.
Your writing is more delicious than fruit mince and as spine-tingling as fiery brandy.
Reading this, I can almost taste the opera.Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift.
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