Dear Fennel,
I feel as though a beautiful song by Ingrid Gatin aptly reflects how I feel about our relationship. Please watch this video before reading the rest of my letter:
“Time swelled the moment that we started”…I washed you and cored you carefully, then thinly sliced you because what we had was new and fragile, and you always tiptoe at the beginning of a new relationship, tread softly. So I wanted to roast you long and slow at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes, turning you only once so you didn’t burn. I saw you as something so naturally beautiful that all I wanted you to wear was a little oil (olive), cologne (thyme), and your own sweat (sprinkle of salt). My small hands cautiously explored your skin while I dressed you slowly.
“Make way for love, make way for heart-ache”…At first you seemed so sweet to me, but every conversation became a little more bitter, as if you were being bathed in lemon juice. I only wanted a little since the sweetness had been overpowering, but there was no substance to your words and your body turned from strong and firm to weak and watery. But I was the one whose eyes were close to tears.
“How did I get so”…fooled, lead astray, disappointed…underwhelmed? I wanted your lips to taste like licorice and your skin to yield to me its sweetness. Alas, it was not to be.
Fennel, I hoped we could have something real, but you weren’t ready for me this year. Maybe a year apart will help you grow – mature, even – and next summer we’ll be at a place in both our lives where we’ll be ripe for each other. If you run to California and drive the long distance back to me once my city of Montreal has melted away the cold, I’ll never want to see you again. You can’t have the best of both worlds. Stay, instead, here in the ice and the storms, ride out the winter, and if in summer we run into each other again, I’ll again chase the candy of your lips.
With love, always.
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