The Weight of Sweetness

There is a specific gravity to small things. We keep them in boxes, tucked away in drawers, waiting for a moment that rarely arrives. We think we are saving them for a celebration, but perhaps we are only afraid of the emptiness that follows the consumption. To hold something sweet is to acknowledge that the sweetness is temporary. It is a brief interruption in the long, grey stretch of the day. We consume, we feel the sudden spike of warmth, and then we return to the quiet. The box remains, lighter than before, a hollow shell of what was once promised. We tell ourselves it was enough. We tell ourselves that the memory of the taste is better than the thing itself. But the hunger remains, quiet and persistent, waiting for the next small offering to break the silence. Does the sweetness linger, or does it merely sharpen the cold?

Swaroop Singha Roy has captured this fleeting indulgence in the image titled Chocolate!. It finds a strange, heavy stillness in a simple treat. Does it make you want to reach out, or are you content to simply watch?