The Journey Inward

Oh, sweet box of chocolates,
a thoughtful Mother's Day gift,
a mixed delight of inner surprises,
coated in the very best milk and dark chocolates
in this immediate land.

I lifted your lid today,
and hovered my finger over each remaining gem,
admiring your array of shapes
and wondering what you held within,
wishing for a winner!

You're a tricky one, Box of Chocolates,
because although I love your outer apparel,
your insides sometimes don't match what I anticipate.
You can't judge a book by its cover, they say,
and that's quite apparent in the realm of mixed chocolates.

My mind drifted back to early childhood,
when my dad brought home just such a box one night,
and I sat with it while everyone was otherwise engaged 
and tried to guess which had the caramel 
(I didn't yet know the secret giveaway).

Tasting one that I immediately spat out,
I considered the best way to find a sure thing
would be to take a bite of each,
but that would be too obvious,
so I set about poking the bottom of each, feeling quite proud of myself.

Having found the caramel, I replaced the lid,
over a box of seemingly untainted chocolates
and happily went about my evening
UNTIL a lineup was called at the bottom of the stairs
and the evidence was produced.

I'm not exactly sure why, at 5, I was not the obvious culprit,
but he did go down the line of teenagers
until he got to me.
I'll never forget the disappointment in my father's eyes
and the shamed flush of my cheeks in response.

But, CHOCOLATE!!!!!  

Mixed boxes are the ultimate trial and error,
a life lesson in variety and uncertainty,
a challenge of supply versus luck,
a way to discern likes from dislikes,
a sweet reward.

This morning, this grown ass woman,
took a bite of some chocolates,
poked holes in others,
until a wrapped chocolate mistakenly thought to be a cherry,
turned out to be the fudgy winner.

No one was hurt by this little experiment,
the box says HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, 
so no one will open the lid and be disappointed.
I sampled some so-so insides,
and got exactly what I wanted.

No shame, no blame,
just a chocolatey fun game!

Photo:  The Fudge Shoppe mixed chocolates.  5.17.25 by LA