Poetry and food
Poetry (pen) Pals #22
Ask me which is my favourite season and I will probably answer…for what? Each season brings it’s own pleasures and highlights but when it comes to food, summer is hands down my favourite.
As a vegetarian (sometimes aspiring vegan), I am in my element with fresh salads and giant mushrooms griddled on the BBQ (ideally topped with halloumi, I did say I was ‘aspiring’ to be vegan). I have written three (!) poems about peaches (I mean ripe peaches, hello) and don’t get me started on the insane cuteness of strawberries. Bread thickly spread with salted butter. No, scrap that, salted butter carted along by bread. And breakfast is probably my favourite meal of the lot. Pass me chunky granola, peanut butter and yoghurt, or a bucket of cheap sugary cereal (yep I’m a smorgasbord of contradictions - something I used to feel ashamed of but now hold out to you grinning, like a stripy bag of pick and mix). Although let’s be honest, a slab of cake is where I normally end up.
What seems to have happened here is that I’ve got myself completely distracted thinking about food. Writing about food. Which is where I thought we could go this week. What a lovely way to spend a little time.
Poetry and food might be two of my favourite things in the world. Aside from my family and kids of course. Actually, if I could include poetry within the broader heading of ‘books’ or ‘reading’ - for me that is a winning combination.
There are SO many good poems about food, about our relationships to food, our cultural connections to food, foods being used to explain the world, food being used to explore such a magnitude of possibilities. Eating is such a sensory experience that it lends itself to poetry perfectly. I enjoy poems that invite me to a table. I enjoy poems where the imagery makes me salivate.
I enjoy the metaphor of poem as recipe for life. Of poet as the one wearing the apron and asking of the days seasoning:
A Small Moment by Cornelius Eady via The Poetry Foundation. Isn’t this just a fabulous poem?!
Meditation on a Grapefruit by Craig Arnold via The Poetry Foundation. This description of peeling a grapefruit is so evocative, I actually feel like I am there tearing that ‘husk like cotton padding.’ And the final twist, I’m such a sucker for a final twist.
The Months, by Linda Pastan, go read the full twelve here, gorgeousness.
Don’t mind me. I am in my happy place.
Your Writing Prompt For This Week:
Shall we go pick some ripe fruit, stir in a little sugar, swill down some hot tea? Shall we go and flirt with a baker?
Writing ‘poetry about food’ might feel a bit broad, so in order to focus our attention I wondered if we might write some poetry about a favourite food this week. Or at least a poem that contains a favourite food, it wouldn’t of course need to be about said food. Nor, necessarily, your favourite. A food that we could happily obsess over, perhaps.
As always, if you’d rather just dive on in to a full banquet then tuck your napkin under your chin and get started.
I began with a little free-writing, almost letting my favourite foods interview for the job. I was pretty sure I knew where I was going but then, apparently not.
Oh my goodness, I am already sat down with a knife and fork waiting to see what will arrive on Friday.
Nelly x
I initially thought ‘I don’t really write about food’ BUT then caught myself in my own lie to myself… as one of my earliest poems that people liked is all about the humble Dorito 😆😆😆 I also love Wendy Cope’s Orange so I will use this prompt as a tool to write my second poem about food
Food and poetry, who would have thought?!
A delicious combination for sure.