Is such an

ordinary thing

as a candle

on a chocolate cake

enough to mark

and celebrate

the occasion

of your birthday?

I suppose

if you consider

the hands it took

to plough the earth

in which the seeds

became the wheat

nourished by the

rain and sun

surviving weeds

and pest attack

harvested by

precisely engineered

mechanical machinery.

This wheat then

processed into grain

and travelled

courtesy of roads

to factories where

more machines

and hands pack

flour into bags

made from paper

pulped from trees

while somewhere

distant sugar cane

matures and ripens

in the sun

stalks are being

washed and cut

pulverized and crystallized

filtered and refined.

Free range hens

are laying eggs,

cacao trees

produce their pods

containing beans

“food of the gods”

in trunks and lower branches. 

The cows that graze

and eat the hay

fed to them 10

times a day

making milk

and frothy cream

which beaten

becomes butter.

The buildings

that become the

shops where

groaning shelves

are packed with

goods we idly

place in conveniently

shaped metal

carts and baskets.

So now as I

look at this cake

a simple sponge

baked everyday

all humble looking

on a plate

it’s me that’s

feeling humbled.

What better way

to celebrate the

wonder of  you

being here

than feasting

on this marvellous

collaborative confection.