Cinnamon - Poem by Dilantha Gunawardana

Fragrant stems resurrect from Gaia's womb
The culinary empress in her royal bloom
Rooted to the fertile earth of a teardrop nation
Suckling the buxom breasts of mother earth in elation
Seed liberated to the fertile pearl of the boundless Indian ocean
To bask in the vastness of her great wide open
A legendary tale of heritage buried deep in tradition
As seeds were sown to tap the opulent soil's ambition
A giant in stature yet humble in her native sphere
In dainty gardens of spice caramel brown in veneer
As stems galvanize towards the cascading sunbeams
The succulent pout of the seasonal monsoon fervently screams
To nourish the essence of Gaia in her tireless vocation
In her miraculous journey to uplift the legacy of a conflict-torn nation
Tapping yesteryear traditions in the scorching isles of Serendib
Engraved on papyrus wreaths hatched by an omniscient quill's nib
She is the jewel of Eden, the imperial bark of cinnamon sticks
Radiating to the world to conjure her culinary tricks
This is the regal story of how a dainty hollow bark
Scripted the identity of a humble nation to embark
On a courageous crusade to bestow on lips the ambrosia of Eden
To metamorphose taste to an empyrean sensation