I wrote this poem a few years ago when Tyler and I were dating. I was attending a writers' workshop and the writing prompt was simply to write an "I believe..." piece. This poem was the end result. A few months later, I liked this poem well enough that I featured it in our wedding program.
Chocolate Cake
Shannon VanZegeren
I believe in cake (round ones and chocolate ones).
I believe in a wedge that lays on its side
on a small plate
with a silver fork resting beside it.
I believe in layers (in cakes and in clothing).
I believe in the sweet ribbon of fudge frosting
that runs down the middle
and artfully covers the top and side.
I believe in the icing on the cake (literally and figuratively).
I believe you can have too much,
but that there should be cake
and frosting in every bite.
I believe in a hot, and I mean hot, cup of coffee (in the summer and the winter).
I believe in pouring it into a mug steaming,
and swirling it into a sweet shade of creamy tan,
with soy milk that has frothed bubbles to the top.
I believe in spoons (sugar spoons and silver spoons).
I believe in stirring and the sound
that tingles around and around
the perimeter of the mug.
I believe in the man who takes a bite (slowly and thoughtfully).
I believe in his sincerity
when he raises the mug and
nods to calmly say “It’s good.”
I believe in companionship (short-term and long-term).
I believe in laughs,
and subtle clanks of silverware,
and crinkled napkins folded under plates.
I believe in warmth (internal and external).
I believe in holding that mug
to warm my hands
because he’s the one warming my heart.
I believe in love (as in, “I love cake” and “I love him”).
I believe that love is quiet
and comes in the moments
of just living.
I believe in comfort (physically and emotionally).
I believe in bare feet
propped on the edge of his chair,
and the hand that comes down to affirm my presence.
I believe in all-things-in-balance (just enough and just right).
I believe in full stomachs,
so full, you can’t finish the last two bites,
even though in the beginning, the slice didn’t look big enough.
I believe in leftovers (leftover coffee and leftover cake).
I believe in holding the moment,
that even though we’re done, we talk
for another hour, then two.
I believe bedtimes (early ones and late ones).
I believe in cutting off a bite-sized piece of cake
before covering the pedestal with glass
and calling it a night.