Petitie potatoes. What is the contribution of small potatoes to poetry?

It's obvious. Petite potatoes contribute heft to a poem. Consider, without a belly can a poem be?

Pork belly.
Fish belly.
Tomato belly.
Pumpkin belly.
Brie belly-belly.

Good to be silly on the cat-haiku's 9th birthday!

Light. What is the connection among, light, meals, and poetry?

Let's zero-in, shall we, and articulate that one word which connects this trinity.

Joy.

Two words? Simple joy.

What's for breakfast? Bernal Plus One book club meets -- always a festival of food, laughter, conversation. All of which is poetry.

Nine. What is the significance of 9 and poetry?

haiku the cat turns 9 today. Every poem has a bit of birthday to it, don't you think?
Every meal shared with a friend (say, Boulder-based Dorothy) is a fiesta and the conversation is a poem of sorts.

Raspberries. How do raspberries mentor a poem?

By color.
By timbre. Yes, sometimes raspy.
By design. Recalling the work of honeybees and their hives.
By taste. A poem must feel just so in the mouth.

By example. Exemplary of the ripe.


Breakfast soft corn tacos

mix: raspberries, golden cherry tomatoes, snippets of basil, cubes of queso fresco, a twist pepper


warm the corn tacos over stove's flame (electric? out of luck)

fill

enjoy.

the poem will soon reveal its color, timber, physicality, and above all, ripeness

Figs. How is adding figs to a caprese salad akin to a fine edit of a poem?

To surprise with the simple benefits both food & poem. When eyes see the ensuring good weight the mouth is encouraged.

By the way, olives will harm neither caprese fig salad nor poem.

Creme fraiche. What poem does a dab of creme fraiche most resemble?

A dab of well-appointed creme fraiche mirrors what the occasional poem attempts. Proclaim and celebrate an occasion. Example? Nancy's 70th birthday. Perhaps, there will be smoked salmon, creme fraiche, and madly happy poets.


Nancy's b-poem? On the Nature of Red, of course.

Menu. What attributes do menu planning and poetry writing share?

Menu planning and writing a poem share the love of adventure, good ingredients recycled, and the pursuit of fun. Gratitude in both does no harm, either.

Eat a poem daily is not too shabby a mantra.

Figs again. How are figs an inspiration to any poem?

Simple, the poet is happy while eating figs knowing these fruit will not last forever. Figs embody how the ripe is necessary yet transitory. One could get quite biblical about figs, but it's already been done.

So eating a fig or two she asks, "Are poems transitory by nature?"

Chard. How does chard inspire the poem?

The sound of crunch. Sound of the definitive. And oh so green & curvy. Just what a woman wants in a poem, wouldn't you say? Especially when it comes freshly picked from writer-friend Rich's garden. The late Early Girl tomatoes are so exquisitely up for chard's companionship, too.

Finger limes. What similarities exist between finger limes and haiku?

Both beg other questions.
Q: What are finger limes? A: Tiny, the size of small pinkies.

Q: Which haiku? A: Not my cat.


I'm confident I'd like finger limes as much as I do baby carrots. But not as much as haiku, the cat.

I'm contemplating a minimalist epic on finger limes.

Chicken soup. When we cook chicken soup, are we writing a poem for healing?

Healing & praise are essential ingredients of chicken soup. No doubts. Write that down. & so begins the line.


Minimalist Epic: Equal to the chicken as in soup

water
onion
celery
garlic
chicken
mushrooms
dried lemons

close to the end of cooking, carrots

and most recent French string beans

First put down generous tablespoons cooked farro then add the chicken soup. Top with pepper, fresh basil.

Always, always the small dish of olives -- green & black. This, equivalent to the pen which fits your hand.

Tomatoes. My friend Kim says tomatoes are the best fruit and what does this have to do with poetry?

Heirloom.
Nothing less that silhouette of memory. So fresh. May I say deliciously stark yet juicy. Nightshade never sweeter. Oh, so kind.


MINIMALIST EPIC: Contemplating heirloom tomatoes, she boils petite potatoes

red
yellow
purple

simple math of color
and yet, she never saw such purple
especially potatoes

notwithstanding
basil
plentiful

and, oh so willing

Strawberries. Which two words both describe strawberries and the poetry I've been reading?

Unseasonable ripe.

If you allow 4 words -- Unseasonably ripe. Luscious. Plentiful.


So you ask, what am I reading? Our Lady of the Ruins by Traci Brimhall. How Things Are, James Richardson. As I mentioned a day or so ago, Anne Carson's Antigonick illustrated by Bianca Stone. Tell me, do you believe you become what you read? Hope so. Tell me, do you become what you eat?


Minimalist Epic: Recipe for ripe strawberries

No adornment.
Eat often.
Lick fingers.

Atypical breakast. How is an atypical breakfast the perfect invitation for a poem?

A poem is never business as usual. What's an atypical breakfast? Probably isn't when you take into account all the cultures. Soup or salad or cheese or meats or fish.

When someone says they heard or read a typical poem, inquire what they ate for breakfast.


Picnic Breakfast to eat while feeding a friend's cat

small hunk sharp cheddar (Dubliner)
a few small prune plums
rice cake (donated by that friend)
3 brown figs

add hummus & carrots (minus rice cake) and you have picnic lunch

Golden cherry tomatoes. How are G.c.t like a perfect last line of a poem?

Memorable. Unexpected & full taste. Although you've tasted (or heard) this before,it is ripe & deliciously so fresh that it almost takes your breath away and gives it right back.

Today's buzz is that golden tomatoes are extraordinarily good for you. Please be reminded, so is poetry.


Golden cherry tomatoes & figs (brown & green)

add feta
twists of pepper
cashews
drizzle olive oil

Read Anne Carson's latest Greek translation illustrated by Bianca Stone.

Plated food. How does plated food mirror the edited poem?

What you see is what you get. What you taste. What feeds you. A trinity of questions masquerading as answers.

Un-plated food? Chips from bag. Golden tomatoes from green plastic lidless box. Ice cream eaten directly from container. Foregone tonight in pursuit of sushi.

Sushi might just be the pinnacle of editing. Perfectly fresh. Cleansing. Invigorating. Nothing more than need be. Everything it must.