Wednesday, July 28, 2010

What % of poems fall below surface?

To rephrase, how is an iceberg like a typically fine poem?



Ah, the good meal is the tip of savored evening.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

What if poetry were motorized? Winged?

You mean it isn’t?



It’s a fact. Food, too, travels by motor and by wing.

Monday, July 26, 2010

How does a poem work?

Is it mechanical? Levers, pulleys, engines?
It is skeleton with internal organs?
Does it age?
Is death part of its genetic framework?
It is mostly body? Mostly mind?

Are these artificial distractions?



About a meal, this, too, constructed, revised over time. The good kept. The not-so never attempted again.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Does the poem work?

What is signified by “work?” Heavy lifting? Cerebral shenanigans?


The meal offered (chili flakes added to mussel broth) – that worked. Add thanks to yum.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

How many ways does a poem not ask a question?

Language is inherently question-making.



As creatures, it is logical to question our next meal. While waiting, we write.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Can you pinpoint the moment in a poem when you said, "I'll go with the poet?"

You may not understand, but you’re confident she does. Ready for a journey, you follow. Certainty and surprise.



Great bed-sisters for a meal. Color, taste, texture. Done with a deft hand or slight of.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Is pure page-poetry waning?

Unquestionably, performance, multi-media, cross-genre and hybrid are on the ascendant. By the way, what's a "pure" poem?

Poetry began as oral tradition.


Speaking of food and cuisine, migration and cross-mingling made a good thing better. Let's not fret; the table is set.

Friday, July 16, 2010

How do you retrieve a favorite poem?

memory
title
mark in book/bent corner
a file/disk of favorites
Internet
ask a friend
ask a librarian

How do you find a new favorite?



How different is this from locating a favorite recipe or a soon to be?

All roads lead to poetry & food.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

How are poems like wine & revolution?

Truth in wine. Truth in word.

Happy Bastille Day!


Tonight talking poetry with a good friend among wine/cheese/bread. Truth will be.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

How many voices are in a poem?

Minimum of two – poet & reader. Sometimes poet & reader coincide.
Still two voices. Think of it as public & private.




Not sure why I remember this. At a dinner party a poet-friend gave voice to vegetables. One of her best performances, totally out of character and believable. Eggplant will never be the same. Consider, Georgia O’Keeffe’s small painting of the same. Think of my favorite Thai restaurant, Jitlada, and Chef Pai’s way with eggplant. Like I said, two voices.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Is there a poet for all times for you?

One whose work resonates with each reading. Whose poems never fail
to unfold a richness.




This, too, is personal: which cuisine never disappoints? Always nourishes.

Favorite poet. Favored food inseparable as line & taste.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

How does writing a poem relate to mowing the lawn?

Muscle memory. Routine. Editing as in line and grass.



As you improvise on a grilled fruit "salsa" of peach, plum, & fig (w/feta, mint, olive oil, pepper), consider cooking and its correspondence to the above.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

If a poem isn't articulated is it a poem?

Never spoken
Never read aloud
Never whispered
Left mute in a journal

Think of a meal never tasted
Never shared
Not one given a cause to be grateful

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

By nature is poetry visual?

The visual is read. Sound is vibration. Vibration registers as color. Add letters and you have a devilish palette for crafted intention & delicious accident.



Craft & accident, precisely shapes the good meal. How bright those tomatoes w/feta. Unabashed mint.

Monday, July 5, 2010

What is freedom to a poem?

occasion
fervor
intent
timing
style?



Is food ever independent from the cook, from the mouth which praises.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Are poems written in response to a call for submissions different from ones which aren't?

Mind focuses to produce a time-specific product. And what of theme?



Invitation is the cook’s call to submit. Doorbell is her chance to deliver a loose interpretation on a self-directed theme.

Both actions satisfy a hunger.