Because the embers glow
           just   so
and can be strewn
into a mesmerizing layer
the Widow Wyile fills
her old-fashioned long-handled wire
basket popper with a sliding lid
a hand-me-down present
from her kernel-popping-expert mother
with one layer of golden kernels
and then she dons her heavy black-leather
fire-tending-gloves that nearly reach her elbows
and carefully undoes the latch
to open the gothic-arched window-door
of her cast-iron Norwegian wood-stove 

a jøtul  - -    yes  - -   good guess! 

With ritualistic purpose
she picks up the readied basket
by its wooden handle to hold
             j
               i        
and    j i  g  g          it
                   g  l
jig jig jigg    l  e
                           e          it
 over the pulsing orange-red coals

and so begins the great anticipation
            and the growing heat 

Always the first few pops
are  q u i e t e r
            the hot-air blooms smaller
but just you wait
            and keep ji-ggl-ing
                              i       i
                             ggl ng  !
for soon        - - oh - -   soon
the   heated  kernels will 

explode pop-top-pop-pop
rat-a-snap-tap- -top-pop-pop-pop
a frenzy
            an exultation

 !  o  !
p      p       c o r n
     c          o         r     n
         p    o    p    !
                         n
                      r
     o     !      o
p      p    c      r  n
           p
        o
    p      p   ! 

a wondrous audio-visual spectacle

  - - what is that flare?

            one of the multitude
escaped
            the gap - -
                             back
                  out!
evacuate           into a bowl! 

fill her up up up

with admirable airy creamy-white
gold-adorned instantaneous blossoms
            interstellar craft
landed crustaceans
            without a single soft spot
or pleasantly chewable barnacle-like
               satellites
that squeal against the enamel
        of        your        teeth 

take   - - your - - pick! 

d  e  l  i  c  i  o  u  s

with a bit of salt and oil mixed through 

kind of like a white and fluffy
crunching salad
   you feast on with your fingers 

pop      corn    pop
a serotonin satisfying treat

                        *

meanwhile sotto voce
from her cozy stall
song of Gorgeous
goes: pop top pop
of course i am a trip trop
corn popped fan
each pop a tip top boost
of sero-hero-tonin’
thanks to mi amigo trypto-
phan that’s an
amino
acid