Live Encounters Poetry & Writing, Special Edition on Humour June 2024.
Stiletto Cake, poem by Margaret Owen Ruckert.
Stiletto Cake
stacked on self-esteem cow-bull confident the cake called ‘stiletto’ takes direction from its
unisex name potent as painted toenails controversial as daggers targets a rich market those
flamboyant clients dressed to kill with coffee conversation the extreme life syndicate
this cake will invariably be tall enough to allow even the shortest of paparazzi a shot at best
cake photograph of the year even best shoe photograph too soon the crumbs are bird food all
evidence of a tête-à-tête deleted a body removed for analysis
this cake understands no limits being bred for stilettos it teeters on the heels of fame is
mention from food-fashion writers sufficient for celebrity status diamond engagements must
it wait to become a staple on restaurant menus before achieving five-star status
the recommended daily size for a portion of this cake refuses recognition being too shrewd
an individual a chameleon in the wilds of the lunch jungle a dinner sinner dream slice of
action with chocolate and its dancing partner that energetic cream
a stiletto cake foot-art food evolutionary intimate café visionary evades the table games
played by café cognoscenti it survives the buzz words of style bees swarming like flies who
ready their venom of foul food words for a public stabbing this cake says … try me
© Margaret Owen Ruckert
Margaret Owen Ruckert is a prize-winning poet, with a wide variety of poetry published. Two books You Deserve Dessert and musefood explore café culture. Five books of tanka explore landscape through ekphrasis. Living in Sydney, she facilitates Hurstville’s Discovery Writers, presenting monthly writing workshops.