Dark Chocolate Poem by Reshma Ramesh
Dark Chocolate
Wrapped in shinny wrappers,
golden, red, silver and brown,
chocolate, the king of sweets,
everyone's favorite treat,
dropp it in your mouth,
it slips and melts,
bitter sweet with nuts,
lover's gift, chocolate kiss!
Born in West Africa
bred by little hands,
little feet walked three days,
on stale porridge and water,
sweets they have heard not,
schools they know not,
only cocoa farms.
With machetes in their hands,
they chop the pods,
often, when they swing too high,
they strike their leg,
often when they swing too low,
they, strike their hand,
hospitals they have none,
muddy clothes they tear
and tie the bleeding wounds,
continue to collect the beans,
for a child in the city
might be throwing a tantrum,
for his favorite sweet.
Hungry hearts, candy bars,
snakes bites, valentine's gift,
gift of blood, spraying pesticides,
dark, white and milk, pleasure trip,
horror, blood and tears, cartoon strip,
Easter egg, child labor, dark treats.
When the men in uniform they arrive,
the children hide the machete,
and pretend to play, how can they
for they know no games.
The cocoa bean from black, muddy
bleeding hands sit on the shelves
of the finest stores where tiny
soft pink hands pick them up
From hand to hand the chocolate
travels, sinned on the way
bitter sweet, the chocolate's way.
money.cnn.com/2008/01/24/news/international/chocolate_bittersweet.fortune/ - 70k -
www.antislavery.org/homepage/news/cocoareport290702.htm -
www.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm
profound, the story of worldly life, thanks for sharing 10
How can something so sweet come through a process so bitter. Thanks for speaking up for the children. Well written.
Thw plight of those little girls and workers on chocolate fields which have 'sinned' their way to us, , , , wrapped in shiny paper, , , as usual spoken with passion, who shall hear not? , ,10
Oh Reshma, this is such a bitter-sweet poem about haves and have nots - about black and white - about the first world and the third world - about injustice and gluttony. Fortunately there are a few brands of 'ethical' chocolate available here in Australia. As one who enjoys the 'king of sweets' on occasion, they are the only kind I buy. Your words tell your story very powerfully. Your rage is evident even when you write it in beautiful words. A poem that draws tears. Love, Allie ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Hi, I love this brilliant poem of yours. Read it many a times and read it to my 9 year old daughter too. She too loved and understood it. You are a gifted writer. Bravo!
no ordinary poem there.. only a deeply feeling heart and mind is capable of narating such a beuatiful poem the wizardry of inetrtwinig words and situations has been phenomenal... yes indeed the scourge of child labour in many situations is traced back to cultured and manicured hands....Condescending in treacherous extreme.... ten and cheers
Resh, You opened doors to an unknown world of pain tragedy and exploitation of children. I'm dumbstruck; stunned. Oh! Evrywhere this is happening.............
this issue must be very important to you, for the poem to be expressed in such a way. It manages to capture the issue and what it means, not by horror, but with gentle hands as if removing an eye cover.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/23/2025 6:59:13 PM # 1.0.0
Reshma.. you have fattened these lines delectable! ! .. if we could delet from the table the cream that churned the production from seed to wrapper to golden plates.. social justice, poetry and maybe even modern slavery will have tasted a slab within a block of sweet victory... your attention to these details was well worth the munch on... aroha Deana xx