Do you remember eating your first artichoke? By which poem where you first smitten?

Travel is good on so many levels.  The freedom to try something for the first time.  An Italian restaurant in The Hague sometime in the early '80s, I become personally engaged with a stuffed artichoke.  Ever since, artichokes are an intimate part of my life.  Though infrequently stuffed. Plain, boiled and each leaf raked through teeth.  Sublime & vegetal.  Fodder for poems, too.

First poem?  e.e. cummings   "If there are any heavens…."

Why is she thinking of broth and eventide outlining the neighbor's house?

Because both are poems.
Both nourish.
Both feed the senses.
Both whisper "possibilities."

Because in her house there are many pens.

How shall the last meal of the year influence words written in the new year?

Decide on the meal.  Prepare.  Enjoy.  Clean up.  Then, wait until morning.
Time is metronome for cooking & music. If poetry isn't music, what is it?  Then again, if cooking isn't music?

If the comma is an arbitrary construct, what of the onion?

Both are neither arbitrary. Nor capricious.
Both demonstrate kinship of form although the onion is exquisitely aligned to the circle.

The comma is the progenitor of the spoon.  Thus, spoon & onion.  Comma & circle.  I believe
we have come full….

What do "thus" and "beets" have in common?

The first is the go-to for words.  Especially when I know there is a connection but, perhaps, can't articulate in the moment.

The second is my go-to in the food kingdom.

Thus, get (thee) to beets.

And the backup?   Perhaps, persimmons.

What one word do food and poetry have in common?

Investigation.

Some take stock at the end of the year….

why not make it?  Simple -- onions, carrots, garlic, peppercorns, dried herbs.

And the poem?  Simple as that straight-forward recipe with a surprise ingredient.  Perhaps, dried lemons.  Or cinnamon.  Or beets.  Or a combination.

What will be the first dish served on 1/1/14? Which poem will accommodate?

Neither is known.  A hand one day older will open the refrigerator and a pantry and a meal will ensue.  Most like of a soup or stew consistency.  Once the cooking begins, the poem may appear in the cutting, in the stirring.  In the embraces of steam.

Are black lentils the new blink poem?

Indeed, it appears so.
What's a blink poem you ask.  The result of fusion.  Fusion?  Title & text are fused.  A blink poem is an interior (albeit sometimes quirky or queer)  landscape in as few words as possible.

An example?

asleep
the cat saves the world

How does this relate to blank lentils?   Serving black lentils in a white bowl, I am reminded of haiku,the adorable, precocious 10-year old black & white cat who, no longer asleep, jumps on my lap.  With that simple act, he once again saves the world.  Please note, there is no title in that act.

Late tomorrow when the celebratory meal is finished and the new year is realized, which poem will greet you?

The one-word answer:  "wait."
To each answer, a question.  Thus, the larger question -- does she know what a poem is?
Returning to a one-word answer, "dubious."
Though the meal will contain blue cheese of this she is not dubious.  

Is writing a poem possible when there are no fuyu persimmons left in the market?

Yes. Consider the questions.

How many poems are about loss?  How many about denial? How many about walking through loss to a place of possibility?  How many whose core is trust?

How many questions do poems and food share?

What's the connection between winter squash and poetry?

The difficulty to cut open the squash.  The physical effort.
To begin the poem by splitting open the page.

Winter squash is formidable & delicious.  Some poems are difficult to begin but worth the weight, the effort to cut open.  Creating a nourishing soup is writing a poem.  On this knife and spoon agree.

How does light affect a meal? A poem?

The less light the longer the meal inside and the shorter the meal outside.
Light has no bearing on the length of a poem except as subject.

On a winter night which food tastes best?

Food of heft
& heat, perhaps
fire.  As in spicy?
Yes.
And which poems?
Those
which comfort
& offer the dark
the sweetest morsel.  

How does one decide what to eat and what to write on 12/25?

The decision is local.  Here in San Francisco, I walk Ocean Beach.  It was a brilliantly bright & warmday.  I was not alone and all pebbles appeared relaxed and open to their journey.
I'm never alone on the beach.  Never alone in the kitchen.  Whatever/however/with whomever you celebrate, I trust you did.  Eat well & write.

Everyone has a favorite holiday dish. What's your go-to holiday poem?

Why?  Aren't food & poetry synonymous?
Seriously, which poem?
The one that has been written for winter solstice.
Check out the current issue of The Bay Times.  

OK?  If you are curious about the go-to food.
Something with Fuyu persimmons.  Something with golden beets.
Always some cheese.

What poem occurs a few days after Thanksgiving?

Something with a wishbone.  Obvious.
Or the genetic structure of bean curd.

How are radishes like the punctuation in a poem?

Let's consider punctuation as if a spice.  It bites favorably like a period.  Surprises as does the exclamation point (don't overuse).  It's a known fact that radishes can be spicy.  Even racy.  Which radish is most like the semi-colon.  Not sure.  I'll get back to you.

This Thanksgiving why not roast a poem?

Words whether prose, poetry or a hybrid love nothing more than to be kept warm. Either in your hand or in the oven.  Think of petite potatoes as small poems.  Roast gently with carrots, onions, garlic, olive oil.  Don't forget the rosemary.  Don't forget to remember. Don't forget to write down the words to remember the recipe. 

How does cottage cheese motivate a poem?

It doesn't.  Nor does it need to.
Try this -- add cinnamon  to cottage cheese and pear.  Be seasonally hip and add a Fuyi persimmon.
Motivation happens one mouthful at a time.  Indeed, words flow from the ripe & lovely.

What intention does a Fuyi persimmon offer poetry?

First, let's admit the Fuyi persimmon's kinship with apples -- red and various.
Next, let's agree that like Fuyi persimmons some poems can be harvested only for a limited time. 
Neither of these conditions, lessens the enjoyment of either.  Or both.

The question is -- is there anything that is ripe (be if vegetable, fruit or word) unconnected?

How is the refrigerator a tool box for poetry?

Open and revel in the shapes, colors.
In the possibilities.
Now lift pen
and lower onto paper
as one does a spoon
dipping into soup,
for it is morning
and you are hungry.

Organic baby broccoli. When will the next poem bloom?

Those promising buds on the baby broccoli.   Similar to the buds on the flowering dahlia tree which blooms once a year in November.  Soon. Soon.  So tall with it bamboo-like trunk and promise of pink umbrella blooms.  Soon.  Soon.

And when of poetry, you ask.

Likewise, poems are budding with intentions.
The exact moment of blooming to be revealed -- one letter at a time.

When I consider tea, I think of poetry. Why?

Why indeed!
Something about the unfurling of leaves.  The unfolding of a line
& its break.

What does cheese tell me about poetry?

I adore cheese.
Not one to my unliking.
Is there any letter that I don't adore.
Thus, cheese is a proper tool for a meal.
Thus, letters are the proper tool for poetry.
Thus, indeed.

On what level does cooked spinach relate to poetry?

Editing!
How so?
Reworking the familiar.
How so?
Usually, I eat spinach raw.
Use it as a canvas to which much color, many shapes, added.
Last night, spinach cooked with olive oil and garlic.
So green.
So fresh.
So promising.

How is cooking rice a teacher of writing poetry?

No peaking while cooking (while writing).
You can adjust afterwards if too much/too little liquid.  You can only edit your words after they are down on the page.
Each kernel to be savored.  Rejoice with each letter.
Enormously versatile. Much of world relies on rice.
Much of the world would do well to rely on poetry.  Why?
Because while writing or reading poetry, it almost impossible to kill a sister/brother human.

What visual qualities of Brussels sprouts should poetry attempt to capture?

A center affixed to stalk.

Tethered in the best way.  

Allowing many centers to adhere to one stalk. 

Visual community, leafy & green.

What does a poem have to learn from pitted neglet noir dates?

A natural, long-lasting sweetness.

Try this.  Add a date or two (sliced) into lentil soup.  Pleasure, indeed, as is a poem which represents
a long-lasting organic sweetness.  Unexpected pleasure.

How is making that black bean salad like submitting poetry?

What black bean salad, you ask?

2 cans black beans
apples (2) sliced
Fuyi persimmons (also 2) small irregular slices
mixed nuts & raisons from the last hike
liberal handfuls of cherry tomatoes
fresh basil, cut
snap peas slightly steamed
olive oil
pepper

The black beans were in the back of the pantry.  Deep reached and resurfacing.
Those last 4 words sum up submitting poetry in my world.

How do pears shape poetry?

Their shape is womanly.
Feminine.
Earthy.
They are so edible.
They do well by fire.
Thus, roast them.
Lovely companions
with blue cheeses
various & roasted walnuts.
Now linger to taste
the shape of the poem.

How do Fuyu persimmons make me want to write a poem?

Because persimmons make me smile.  Because paper & pen make me smile.  Besides, when I thought I'd said everything I possibly could about persimmons, a new way to say the old surfaces. The same is true with cooking.  Thus, the same is true in poetry.  Everything is plural with joy.

How is making a black bean salad with garbanzos similiar to writing poetry?

Flexibility and the use of what is at hand. 

Right now, I'm thinking flexibility might be a similar activity to editing.

I'm still thinking.

In the meantime --

THERE ARE NO BLACK BEANS IN THIS BLACK BEAN SALAD

she would have had
to reach into the back
of the cupboard
for the black beans
she refused
she reached
in her need
for what was
front-and-center:

garbanzo beans

to which she added
almonds
cherry tomatoes
apple, chopped
persimmon, cubed
handful of spinach
black olives, pitted
fresh thyme
olive oil
splash balsamic vinegar
pepper.
Under differ circumstances
she would include
oh, so willingly
cheese, either feta
or cheddar.


And into this mix
come tastes

varied
pleasing
surprising,
leading
to a thirst
for editing.   

  

How do canned peaches relate to writing poetry?

There's no substitute for the ripe, for the seasonal.  OK, OK I remember devouring canned peaches as a kid.  Then again, I ate Maraschino cherries.  Now not even vanilla ice cream would tempt me to grab either.  Then again, I don't each much ice cream these days. 

Does writing poems adhere to the seasonal?  Does it stretch into editing?  Does it extend to the reading of?  Can you write, edit or read a  poem out of season with vigor?.  Conviction?  Will the iterative voice of the ripe flow through?

The weight of place.  Of season.  Of time.

EATING CANNED PEACHES IN OCTOBER

she thought it best
to leave
the conundrum of actual
& perceived
for another time
and settled into
a cup of oolong

Figs and editing the poem. What connects them?

Wishful thinking. 

In the case of figs, hoping the season hasn't run it's course. 
In the case of editing a poem, wishing the last edit will be the final. 

What is the equivalent of mint in poetry?

The quality of fresh. Alive & quite green.  All herbs have kinship with poetry.  However, they differ in taste & timbre and thus relate to poetry according to those qualities.

Timbre & herbs?  Oh, yes.  Indeed.  

How does making tomato sauce infuse poetry?

Slow cooking fresh tomatoes with roasted garlic, black pepper, a liberal splash of vodka and fresh basil at the end takes time, patience.  Worth it.  Editing a poem also requires patience and time to meld flavors.


By the way, poems are meant to be eaten -- just in case you were wondering.  

What to eat before giving a poetry reading?

SALAD IN A BOWL w/basil

cooked petite potatoes  -  cubed
cooked & cut French string beans
small heirloom tomatoes -- all shapes & color (especially orange)
walnuts
slices of roasted pear
feta
black olives
pepper
olive oil
splash of Balsamic vinegar
& basil

the bowl no longer inconvenienced by emptiness

What does the refrigerator share with blank paper?

A refrigerator is a palette from which a meal is made.   

Blank paper is the palette from which a poem might appear.  

What initiates a meal? What initiates a poem?

Hunger.

Or Figs.

as in:

OR FIGS
One should be as greedy for love
as one is for the ripest of peaches.

(From INTENTIONS -- portfolio of poems with Kit Kennedy and drawings by Susan Gangel,
CoLab Press, San Francisco, 2013.

What three words link smoked salmon and poetry?

Celebration.
Intentions.
haiku.

Now, a bit of the backstory.

Today is the official birthday of haiku, the precocious, adorable, handsome, genius healer-cat who turns a rousing 10 years.  Yesterday we celebrated haiku's birthday at herchurch with song & smoked salmon.

Tonight at Keane's 3300 Club, San Francisco Susan Gangel & I launch INTENTIONS -- a portfolio of my poems & Susan's drawings.

And both are a celebration.

So drop by at Keane's @ 29th & Mission -- tonight @ 7PM.   Open mic follows.

How can petite potatoes surprise as can a small poem?

The size of both surprises.  It engages you with acceptable cuteness.  The petite potatoe's taste lingers & fills more that you might expect.  Hopefully, the same is true of the small poem.

Now, take that make-believe caprese salad (made with malabar spinach) and add a few cooked & preferably warm petite potatoes.  Do you feel the advent of words?

Sometimes it's too hot to cook. Sometimes is it too cold to write a poem?

So what is the connection with weather & poetry?  I am wondering. & hopeful that the farmer's market will have an abundance of fennel for roasting.  Because it isn't too hot to turn on the oven.

While the bulbs roast, I will contemplate the proper heat necessary for a poem to be edible and feat on smoked trout. What will you be doing?

What does malabar spinach offer a poem?

What it offers itself.  Crunch.   To be more descriptive:  crunch in a vivid green.

To be truthful as all blogs are, malabar spiniach is not spinach at all.  More vine-ish. 

The same might be said of the next poem written (it not being a poem but more vine-ish).


SALAD ALMOST AS IF IT WERE CAPRESE

heirloom tomatoes --- cube the larger ones & add orange cherries
malabar spinach -- strip the leaves
small mozzarella balls
black olives
pine nuts
olive oil
pepper

toss and serve in a glass bowl

toss the next poem across blank paper

What is the equivalent of editing a poem in food?

Cleaning out the refrigerator.  Combining leftovers, making the disparate whole. Or at least more of a  sum than parts. 

Also there's a bit of a prompt in this.  Given a handful of ingredients, what's the dish?
A prompt can generate a poem.  Or at least its attempt.

What do roasted walnuts have in common with poetry?

Walnuts have fine taste.  Roasting them lightly expands that taste.  Think of editing as the equivalent of roasted.  Editing makes the small larger just as roasting expands the taste of a handful of nuts. 

The release of oil.  Each word releasing its essence.

Less is needed.  Less is more.  

What 2 things befriend roasted salmon and a poem?

Lime for its refreshing bite.
Avocado for lush creaminess.

Roasting salmon is a dance of balance.
Writing a poem is getting to the still point of balance.
The qualities of both lime and avocado are appreciated by roasted salmon and a poem.

What is balance in food and poetry?

A balance -- celebrating the ripe in both food & poetry.  A farmer's market is an apt example as is a new notebook in which new poems might find their way to ripeness. 

How are olives an exploration of poetry?

First, let's establish we are speaking of olives with pits.   A poem is an exploration of the sweetmeat around a core.  The olive pit is core.

By the way, a pit-less olive allows a poem to explore it's core in anyway is wishes.  Be it void.  Be it bowl.

So you see, there is losing with olives.  Pit, pit-less, or however they be dressed.

No quite that easy with a poem, of course.

How can a cream cheese sandwich influence a poem?

It comes down to the bread.  European style, thin and dark and dense, and full of seeds.  To which a hand familiar spreads whipped cream cheese.  Perhaps, a dab of blood orange jam.  Perhaps, not.  There are times, the quality and texture of paper influences the poem.  This tactile delight is absent with a screen.

Which 2 words condemn gluten-free pasta and certain kinds of poetry?

Mushy.
Flabby.  

Which foods are particularly conducive to a poetry reading?

Whatever is ripe at whichever time the reading occurs. Certainly food to which a handful of nuts accessorizes. 
What nuts, you ask?   Any which are not overly processed, made funny, or made unrecognizable. 

How do chives lend punctuation to a poem?

First, let's think of punctuation not in terms of speed but of bite.
Chives have a nice bite to them.
The mouth satisfies.
Colorr & spear-shape satisfy eyes..
Stimulates the pen.  Thus, a poem
might...

Minimalist Epic to Cream Cheese

add
chives

What do you do when you need inspiration for a poem?

Because today is today, go to the farmer's market.
Happy people with their bounty.

Color, shape & smell of bounty will inspire. 
If it doesn't inspire right away, no doubt
the meal will.  

Imagine there are no figs in the world -- now in 3 words how would this impact poetry?

Perhaps, no poetry.

Or perhaps, poetry would go underground.
Fallow for a time.
Yet, the voice (or fruit) can't be squelched nor made extinct.
Will resurface when the time, the need arrive.  

Cheese & fruit. What is the equivalent in poetry?

Pen & paper, of course.
Pen & paper &
computer & the delicious software it contains.
Perhaps, a startling image that doesn't derail.
Settles into the right weight.
Perhaps, a tad cozy & familiar.
Don't be derailed.  Don't be dismayed.
The vague is chock-a-block with detail.

If there were one fruit to describe your current poems, what would it be?

Figs or peaches.  Nothing is singular about the ripe.  Nothing is singular about poetry.  So, what's for dinner?  Did someone forget to take out the cheese this morning?  And the beloved cat will not answer the phone.

Does an electric water heater for tea quicken the writing of a poem?

No, is the short answer.
The long answer is the same.
This is not often the case.
One does not rush the sipping of tea.
Or words.  

Basil can be an entire forest. What is the equivalent in poetry?

Someone commenting on the fresh basil in the salad along with tomatoes and the surprise of beets.
A stranger buying 2 of your poetry books.
And always the ripe is to the good.

How is poetry akin to nasturtium in a salad?

So as flowers, words offer color.   Sometimes, an unexpected brightness as in the ubiquitous nasturtium.  Words echo their roots, leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds.  No doubt, nasturtium remembers where it comes from -- the spot from which picked.

From where the poem picked, you ask?

Why should peaches be grilled? Why should poems be written?

Because unexpected sweetness is necessary, not a luxury.
Perhaps, you will reconsider your next meal.
Perhaps, I will check on the saffron rice.
Perhaps, I will notice the similarity of hue -- peach & saffron.
Perhaps, I will tell you about this.

How does seasonal food connect with a poem?

Say, in the height of season (of which we are) tomatoes are plentiful, colorful, and as inexpensive as they get.  Poets rely on the concept of seasonality.  One poet favors particular words for a while; perhaps, a lifetime.

Speaking of perhaps.  Perhaps, I will have a tomato for lunch.  Perhaps, the next poem will be about tomatoes and will begin with "perhaps."

Perhaps, Tomatoes

The rest will write itself.
Perhaps, it is best to be
as a white pasta bowl -- empty
with possibility
& perhaps
to savor
the expectation
of color.

How does one make a poem look like the color of beets?

If I knew, I'd be doing it.  However, for inspiration I cook beets often, especially those golden ones and the incomparable color of Chiogga.  Named for an island off of Venice, by the way.  Just like the Italians to have the inside skinny on food.   

What single word do beets inspire in a poem?

Perhaps.

Perhaps, golden.
Perhaps, Chiogga
Perhaps, tonight.

Perhaps, a poem.
Perhaps, not.  

What do basil and tomatoes have to do with writing a poem?

Basil and tomatoes are a perfect combo and just as ripe and delicious as paper and pen.  The latter are essentials for writing a poem. Both combos will feed you.  Both, simple & eloquent.

How can you quickly differentiate a salad from a poem?

Taste.

Example?

BREAKFAST SALAD #194

raw zucchini (round-type)
a sprig, fresh tarragon
cherry tomatoes, red & orange
mozzarella, Bocconcini balls
black olives
olive oil
pepper
and here's the "poem" part of the salad -- add sliced peach

Perhaps, if is problematic distinguishing poem from salad.

How does a farmer's market shape the next poem you write?

It is the time of figs -- brown & green.  Pump.  Yummy,  Eaten from hand.   Or split & roasted. 

Figs offer the poem a delicious sense of nakedness and simplicity.  Ah, the shape of a fig -- bring that into the poem. 

What question does a non-green salad pose to poetry?

The question it poses to itself. 

What precisely is a non-green salad? 
Precisely, what is poetry? 
Perhaps, non-green salads and poetry are sisters after all -- existentially speaking.

What can a non-green salad teach poetry in 5 words or less?

To be unpredictable yet delicious. 

Which two foods now in the market best resemble my blink poems?

English peas
Golden & red beets

Why?  The later colorful.   The former, a small container containing the circular & best consumed raw.

What's a blink poem?   See while eating oysters:  23 blink poems, published by CLWN WR BKS, Brooklyn.  Thanks, Bob Heman.

Can there be gloomy food in summer? How does this theory apply to poems?

I guess if the food is over-cooked.  Or the combination of rain & heat & cold is not in harmony.  And definitely if the poem is over-or-under edited.

Summer is the hopeful season for tomatoes. What is the equivalent in poetry?

A simple yet color-fed combination of words.   As the farmer's markets increase in bounty (tomatoes & otherwise), the poem scales back to the essentials & yet each enjoys the largess.

How is cooking in a wok synonymous with writing a poem?

Short answer -- both require frequent stirring.
Long answer -- both require frequent stirring.

Although conventional wisdom sees paper as flat, it is more wok-ishly shaped.  & the pen, a mighty stirrer.

What is the affinity of a hard-boiled egg to a short poem?

small
compact
full
of promise


Hard-boiled egg  salad #303

golden beet cubed
snap peas raw or slightly steamed
mixed nuts w/a few raisins
fresh basil
olive oil
black pepper
& of course
a hard-boiled egg

Which did I love first -- salads or poems?

Loving the good things of which salads and poetry are, is not hierarchical.  Nor is time.  Bounty loves a circle.  Think heirloom tomato.  Think fresh herbs. How basil in particular is similar to words in a poem offering surprise.  Offering delight.  

What is the one unifying aspect to a salad and a poem?

You don't know if it "works" until you do it.  Conceptualizing is a fine & noble activity; however, it doesn't make a salad.  It doesn't write the poem.

Here's Sunday's salad:

a peach cubed
2 kinds of mangoes -- Mexican & honey, cubed
zucchini raw & cubed
almonds
avocado cubed
cherry tomatoes
fresh basil
black pepper
olive oil

You can read Sunday's poem in the next issue of The Bay Times.

Which is another way of saying,  salads and poems share a sublime equality.

The avocado is magical. What's magical in a poem?

Everything.  Everything in both -- avocado & poetry.  Taste, color & surprise.  & speaking of geometry, aren't triangles nifty, although I think a poem is more like a circle or spiral.  Nevertheless, triangles make making things happen as much as a pen, the poem.

What is the connection with sunset, poetry, and salad?

A sunset-salad that inspires a poem.  What's a sunset-salad, you ask?  Not a salad limited to making/eating at sunsets.  Oh, no.  A sunset-salad is great for lunch or even breakfast. (Dinner, too, of course).  Perhaps, an example will help.  Just remember there are as many sunset-salads as bounty from a farmer's market.

Sunset-salad #715

peach
huge heirloom tomato -- one of those richly hued-reds ones
fresh basil
avocado
black pepper
almonds
Mozzarella tiny balls
olive oil
if you have a few cooked beets (& why wouldn't you?) especially of the yellow-kind, cube & add

Cut what needs cutting/cubing.  Mix.   Where's the fork?  Where your pen?   The ocean lies in front of you.  Read the calligraphy of waves -- write that down for me, please.  I'm eating.  

What does two days eating meat have to do with poetry?

Oh, bring on the spinach.  Bring on the beets.
Multiple days of eating meat for one who doesn't so much (unless it's salmon or that ilk), is akin to poetry that is heavy.  Heavy, how?   Flowery.  Sometimes, the light feels heavy.

How does salmon write the next poem?

It's personal.  Salmon is a perfect food for me -- rich & colorful making my body hum.   Pleasing limbs & mind.  No small feat, when you think about it.

What kind of salmon?  Wild, responsibility farmed, or smoked.

Consider what salmon can do to a plate.  Think what paper does to words.

Happy & humming.  A poem anticipated.

How does not eating much asparagus in season reflect in poetry?

Unfinished.   Not enjoying the seasonal and all its ripeness is akin to an unfinished poem.  Or a poem which was not begun and needed its chance at ripeness.  Perhaps, another opportunity will come but not now. 

What is the unexpected voice in a good meal & in a poem?

Dance.
Dance of energy.
Dance of words.
Dance of taste.
Dance of articulation.

The thrill of having a poem signed.  Pure dance.  

Imagine sushi without soy, wasabi, ginger. Now, what's the equivalent necessity in a poem?

enjambment
surprise
ripeness

What is the connection between fresh steamed corn & a poem?

Each ear of corn offers amazing opportunities for enjambment.  Each kernel might be said to be a word. Both poem and corn share a ripe physicality.  & delicious taste. 

How does adding cherries to your salad, relate to the poem you're working on?

In both instances, it's advisable to be on the look-out for pits.

What are pits in poetry?  You'll know when you say the poem out loud. 

In both, hold on (hold-out) for the color in each. 

Which is the first meal, the last poem for this Sunday?

As just mentioned, peanut butter & Seville Orange Marmalade on some fabulous chewy bread.  The poem?

Here is it published in Bay Times, June 27 - July 10, 2013

WORDS FOR PRIDE

Some words slip
off the tongue
all satin & sassy.
Some, proud & elegant.
Some shy, wistful.
Others, confident as sea
splayed upon sand.
Same is true of body
with body, luxuriating.
This deliciousness
has no need for words,
for clothes.
Doesn't exclude lust
or love.

Happy, celebratory Pride Parade Sunday!   & congrats to Betty Sullivan, Co Publisher, Editor Bay Times & Community Grand Marshall of Pride Parade.

Have you noticed how the simple & familiar fire the body and poem?

Define simple & familiar?  Peanut butter & marmalade (Seville Orange to be precise).  Great breakfast food.  Fuel for blogging.  & all the imbedded poems, therein.

What is a buttery avocado taste in a poem?

Let's return to avocados.  Who wouldn't want to.  That sylvan butteriness.  Beguiling color.  What is the equivalent in a poem?  Or in a line?  Or a phrase?  Or a single word?  Or even the pit of a poem?

Much meditation to an avocado.   Similar as time unfolding a poem.  

How do avocados inspire a poem?

The inherent inside color of spring-like green.  Then, their inherent butteriness.   From the exterior, this startles.   A positive startle.  Poems can be like that -- unexpected interior from a seemingly-knowable exterior.

What then is the interior of a poem, you ask?

Keep asking.

How are grains similar to the letters in a poem?

In the precise way that salad is similar to spacing & color-shapes in a poem.  Yes, precisely.

The beginning of a season & which poems will ensue?

Take for example, figs.  A few (not quite ripe) are available -- sporadically.  Soon, time & harvest will remedy.  Figs aplenty.  Yummy.  The poems change to accommodate the shape of women  & their taste.  

Those delicious not-fresh-fig-season marinated dried figs w/fennel will wait their time.

What meal, what poem celebrates Supreme Court Decision on 6/26/13?

Which ever is bright, bold, & beautiful.  Thankfully, there's much to choose.

Bye-bye to DOMA.  Bye-bye to Prop 8.  Hello to healthy & joyful inclusiveness.

What three words bind wax beans and personal/narrative poetry?

My least favorite.  I love vegetables & they love me so why this avoidance of wax beans.  Is it their thin pale, bleached color?  And why am I  giving a wide berth to  personal narrative poetry?   Perhaps, because it is wide & its center rarely savory.  Never spontaneous.

And if I bought some wax beans & tried to reclaim them as a crispy cold salad with stridently-hued tomatoes and/or peppers & a slice or two of avocado.  Perhaps, black olives?

The kitchen is my dictionary of color.  

How does fresh corn anticipate a poem?

It's in the kernels.  Scrape the corn-body, the jewels fall.  The kernels can be eaten raw or lightly, tenderly cooked.  Corn on its cob is yummy roasted.  Or grilled.  The same is true of letters; eaten so many ways.  As many as a poem makes use of word-kernels.

One difference.  One caution. Corn-silk is to avoided.  Word-slk, not.

What's the connection between apricots & blink poems?

They both have a seed -- one visible, one not so.   I consider them both fruit.
What kind of apricots?  Frog Hollow Farm Organic.  Amazingly sweet & juicy.  Four words which describe a blink poem when it, too, tastes good.

What's a blink poem?  Check out a few on the right side of this blog.  Or buy white eating oysters  -- 23 blink poems from CLWN WR BKS, Brooklyn.   These blink poems go especially well with apricots.

How is Hawaiian pizza similar to poetry?

This is the first time I've eaten Hawaiian pizza.  Yes, really, and I make home-made flatbread pizza regularly.  Back to pineapple & bacon; seems an unlikely combination.  But it works.  It's accessible -- which introduces the topic of poetry.

Some poems need to be accessible.  Others by their nature, clothed in fog and yet centered in themselves.  Perhaps, these more accessible by ear or mouth than mind.  

Finding Brussels sprouts & poetry in unlikely places.

Yoshi's/SF is a premier jazz club & Japanese restaurant.  So, on the menu my friend & I spy Brussels sprouts.  We are both keen on this sometimes maligned vegetable.  Our wait-person encouraged us to order them.  We did so and feasted on crispy sprouts, lemon, toasted almonds/cashews in furikake with cauliflower puree.  Oh, yes, the sashimi -- an inspiration.    Often, food is the poem as was the music.  Stephanie Teel's band & special guests, a benefit for Marriage Equality.   Did I mention dancing?

What's the connection between perfectly cooked squash and the incomplete poem?

Definitions.  What's perfect?  What's incomplete?  Is "finished" (another word for "perfect") the opposite of "incomplete?"  A meal or a dish can be incomplete.  Or can be perfect.  For instance,
the mixed squash dish (or is it squashes?) served Saturday evening at the hands of someone I never met but thanked and re-thanked with each forkful was sublime.  Everyone at the gathering agreed.  Strangers  agreeing with strangers, strangers no longer.  & there was no squash left.

By comparison, poems are never complete, never perfect.  But grateful for a chance to communicate.  Grateful for breath.

Anticipating a long beach walk, what meal/what poem will transpire?

Food and poetry both share a weight of the unknown.  A weight of anticipation.  Today it is sunny.  Perhaps the poem will be bright.  Most probably the dinner, nutritious.  Lunch will definitely be sushi.

How does Italian fig cake inspire poetry?

Taste, memorable.  Not overly sweet.  Nutty.  An edge of mystery.  Deliciousness, lingering.  Some poetry is like that.

How is cooking beets every Thursday for a month similar to a poetry practice?

Practice, as in writing poetry.  Well, in both there are oodles of colors and plenty options for the mixing.  Also, when you cut cooked beets, it resembles the practice of writing one line a day.  So many little pieces.  Put several of the lines together, and you might (might) have a poem.  Put many beet bits together and you might (yes, you will) have the makings of a great salad.

For what is poetry, if not salad?

What is the correlation of shape with food and poetry?

Consider, pasta. What food has more variety of shapes? Except, perhaps, the alphabet which is another genre of food. From food and alphabet come poetry. Yup.

How are soups and poetry related?

What could be more intimate. Making soup. Making a poem. Without much of a recipe to go on the results nourish & delight. Soup is play-making at its most practical. Poetry, too. Soups can startle as much as a poem -- all to the good. And the spoon of the cook as visible of the pen of the poet.

What don't blueberries and poems have in common?

Let's begin with what they do share. Color and sometimes shape. Yes, there are round poems.

Poems can (and one might argue should) be edited.
Ah, how to edit a blueberry? Perhaps blended in yogurt or baked as muffin or bread. Yes, how to edit the seasonal when it should be but isn't ripe?

To an unripe poem, let it sit on the sill of page. Or recycle. Begin again. And again.

How is poetry like the meal you enjoyed last night?

Out of necessity comes food; comes words.
Some foods enliven.
Some words inspire.
Some foods, quirky.
Some words, peculiar.
Some appetites insatiable.
Some words hunger for themselves.

When soup turns red, what color does the poem turn?

Red, of course. However, this is color as signifier. Returning to soup, add a few rough-cut cooked beets (mixed red & yellow -- heavenly), say to chicken soup. Miracles abound in the shape of color. Yes, color is shape as much as the spiral embraces with equality positive and negative. Remember, beets are a root. Poetry is the root of speech. May they both be necessary & color-luscious. May they bring peace.

Which words accompany today's lunch?

Word Salad # 1,777 (or so) masquerading as Minimalist Epic # 1,777 (or so)

farro
golden beets
plum tomatoes
almonds
spinach
orange olive oil
pepper & flowers

here's the twist -- put the spinach leaves on top. Why?

Because the unexpected should be realized. Needs to be celebrated.

Is there such a thing as a blank page...

when the mouth is involved?

The short answer: doubtful. Longer response: very doubtful. An empty bowl doesn't wish to stay that way forever. A full bowl remembers with affection nothing but air and the passing hand. A fountain pen remembers the refill. The empty ink cartridge remembers parts of the journey, at times brilliantly & complete -- down to the word-architecture.

In terms of inspiration, which comes first, food or poetry?

Inspiring what? A poem? Or a meal? Or both? Perhaps inseparable as inspiration & the outcome. And if there isn't an outcome? Perhaps, all to the good. Time to feed yourself. But with what or who?

Cooking is accomplished both indoors and outdoors. Is the same true of poetry?

Yup. Just as cooking & eating can be done indoors or outdoors, sitting or walking, so can poetry. Phrases for poems are written somewhere in the body as walking occurs. We usually say "head" but who really knows if it isn't the elbows or kneecaps which do the heavy lifting while in poetry-mode?

Poems are comprised (in English) from 26 letters. If the same were true in cooking, what would those 26 ingredients be?

black pepper
olive oil
olives
garlic
onions
lemon
herbs, various
shrimp
greens, especially spinach & kale & rainbow chard
carrots
tomatoes
wine
eggs
soy sauce
salmon
string beans
asparagus
mangoes
bananas
apples
dates
cheese (all)
bread, especially French
crackers
chicken
nuts (all)
beets
mushrooms
peaches
pears
persimmons
potatoes
rices & grasses (as in wildrice)
corn
edamame
pasta
duck
avocado
sushi
sashimi
soups/stews


you didn't think I'd forget mussels & oysters?


clearly with cooking, the alphabet expands to fit the taste

What is the accent of color in a poem equivalent to mint?

Something bright. Spring-ly green. That new shoots-green. In poetry freshness. A clarity in which the mouth hums. Or whistles the word forth?

What do farmer's markets & poetry have in common?

Their structure. They can be seen & read as singular. Both can be enjoyed as a community. Community? You know, an anthology. For what is a farmer's market if not a compilation that one dips in and out of with French plums in her hand. (Well, soon those glorious plums will appear in the markets). Poetry, on the other hand, delivers ripe fruit regardless of season. Imagine that!

What kinship do favorite recipes and the not-quite-finished poem share?

Reclaiming the almost forgotten. Updating,in the case of favorite recipes. Editing, the poem. Sometimes, there are more than one poem. Sometimes, side dishes in place of an entree.

What is the correlation between the number of ingredients in a dish and the number of words in a poem?

Simple, really. Depends upon who is cooking and what is being cooked. Depends upon who is writing the poem. And with cooking & poetry-making, depends upon a deadline (real or perceived).

In addition much depends upon the physical dish or plate engaged in this dance. Also, the size of paper -- loose or in a notebook.

The market doesn't carry what you went there for. Does this dissapointment flow into the next poem you write?

Yes, if you don't love mixing up the unexpected. Yes, if you don't love substitutes. Yes, if you don't believe leftovers are the best food possible, and the refrigerator deserves such gems.

Last night, no mussels to be bought. The refrigerator (or when no one is listening -- icebox) contained string beans. Well, there you have it. This is the house of many pens; of much fruit.

Who says, string beans & sushi are perfectly matched?

Thus, disappointment kept at arms-length from the poem edited this morning.

How do string beans relate to poetry?

This is personal. I have a renewed loved of string beans (those petite ones, slightly undercooked). Served room temperature with mango, nuts, strawberries, avocado, olive oil, black pepper, and any fresh herbs at hand. A splash of soy sauce is nice.

Nice, but how does this relate to poetry? Certain words return to me with humor or memory -- sweet and/or poignant. Perhaps a few words that someone I know (knew?) frequently used, almost a calling card.

A glass bowl with beguiling color, the contents of which slightly askew and a sweet/poignant memory. A pen nearby.

What can the short poem learn from a lemon?

A sense of "precisely." Lemons, their juice, their rinds are precise in taste -- one could say astringent and not be too far off the mark. Short (very), very short poems have a bing of lemon to them.

Now, consider pepper (as in black).

What struggle does a pineapple & a poem share?

The discernment of ripeness. One tugs on a pineapple spear to see if it comes loose in the hand. If so, it it ripe & ready.

Kindly tell me if you know the gesture which determines a poem is ripe & ready.

Truth to tell, truth has much in common with the word "probably."

What one act improves food & poetry?

Sharing.

The sharing of taste, color, & sound. And all the narrative & lyricism that one simple gesture encompasses.

Happy birthday PK! Thanks for sharing your delicious forbidden rice salad.

What are kale shoots and why does that bring on a poem?

As it was explained to me at the farmer's market, kale sends out shoots when it thinks its time is over. The farmer has another idea. Chops off these shoots and tricks the kale plant into continue to grow.

What do kale shoots resemble? A short poem with attitude and a strong taste. OK. A darker version of broccolini.


Saute kale shoots with Spring garlic. Take the pen to a blank page.

Imagine there is no cheese in the house. Imagine there is no poetry. Is this hell?

Perhaps this is the seasonal fallow. It will move into abundance or it won't. Time will get back to us. Don't expect the cat to.

But there is cheese (at least 3 kinds) and, yes, there is poetry. Yes, abundance resides -- the noon hour declares. And then there were 2. Cheeses.

How does the sequence of cooking reflect poetry?

In cooking there is a beginning, probably a middle, and an end. Consider, much of cooking begins offsite with the ripening of the seasonal. The cook then takes the season's largess and rearranges its color. Often on a white dish with a shallow rim. Sometimes using heat; sometimes not. But almost always, a knife is employed.

The poet is tethered to the seasonal in much the same way. Much of a poem is done before the writing of, happens. As in cooking, there can be (with writing) joy in the beginning and joy at the end in sharing. Time made happy and calibrated by a pen.

Which came first the edamame or the very-brief poem?

Put another way, which comes first Spring or Winter? Careful, place is perspective. As is time. As is taste.
By the way, is "very" unnecessary with "brief." Perhaps, I meant blink poems of which I am intimate. Hope you as well.

What do fish and poetry have in common?

Perfection.
Properly cooked, fish delights the senses, in particular the mouth.
With the weight of the ripe, a poem also delights the senses, in particular the mouth. What not the ear? No, the mouth of this I am certain.

For the record a recent perfectly cooked Santa Barbara wild bass at Arch Fish inspired the mouth and the pen. I was certain and overjoyed.

What food best suits National Poetry Month?

Food and poetry are never singular.

There are as many kinds of poetry as there are voices -- alive & in spirit.

Food is seasonal & cultural which has interesting implications for poetry.

For sure, the ripe is always in fashion and much sought after.

When does a poem resemble an olive?

One question spins another.
With pit?
Without pit?

While most poems on the page are flat or linear, enjambment brings a gentle curve. A curve reminiscent of that of olive. Somewhere in the past, poem & olive shared an ancestor -- bowl.

Bowls, of course, perfect containers for poems & olives. For that matter, pits.

What commonality does shaped food and shaped poems share?

I should add, besides shape.
Shaped food and shaped poems share the element of surprise.

Try this experiment. Take a rice salad (forbidden rice, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, herb of your choice, olive oil, pepper, nuts of your choice, avocado cubed). Fill a small rammaken with rice salad. Invert. Top with cut manilla mango. Heavenly taste. Heavenly shape.

How do lemons and the paper a poem is written on resemble each other?

The short direct answer is shape.
Lemons beg to rest in a shape resembling a bowl. Concave. The love of a lip.
Poems love to recline. Yes, think bed. Poems are smitten by rest.

What does breakfast and the title of a poem have in common?

Matter.
As it is and does.
Of course, I often think of the title as the first line of the poem. Sometimes, it's the entire poem.

How something begins matters -- whether speaking of the body or a title/text.

So what was today's breakfast?

a pot of black tea early on

then:

cut Persian cucumber
strawberries
smoked salmon (flavored by ginger & tea)
manilla mango

I admit, not the usual 1950s breakfast in New Jersey.

How does editing soup and poetry differ?

It's a matter of math.
Soup improves with addition. Say carrots, or onions, or garlic, or potatoes, or more water, or cooked beets. Yes, I mean cooked beets -- golden or red.

Poetry improves with subtraction. Others call it editing.

Soup and poetry both connect on the level of beets. Surround yourself with the nutritious. With the colorful. Nothing more that necessary. Nothing less.

What form of poem will a marvelous indoor, in the office picnic inspire?

Lunch poems? How can one not think of Frank O'Hara. Ok, besides?

Perhaps, we need to know what was had for lunch? Well, Mt Tam cheese, marinated green olives (fresh lemon thyme, bay leave, lemon rind), sliced tomatoes, strawberries, slided avocado, pecans, baguette. Of course, the cheese was room temperature and precisely ripe. Waiting does that to so many things.

Back to the future poem. I suggest it might include a recipe.

Why today begin celebrating poetry?

Such sweet irony, don't you think, that the first day of National Poetry Month & April Fool's Day coincide. Holy fools for words & weird food.

Potato salad is the poem, right?

WARNING: There is no mayo in this dish.

peel, cube, & cook red-skinned potatoes
saute rainbow chard in olive oil
cook golden beets. peel & cube (perhaps, you did this yesterday morning in anticipation)
mix potatoes, chard, beets with olive oil, pepper, fresh lemon thyme, walnuts
yes, if ripe tomatoes were available, you would cube one glorious orb. today, that is doubtful, but I'll leave it to your judgement

consider adding feta
consider adding avocado

consider, the poem nearly "finished." you simply need to start it.

reach for the fork

How is cooking beets a timer for poetry?

Beets are great. All kinds. Golden, especially. To cook they take time. A poem takes time. Thus, beets and poems are related. Then again, I think food is the matriarch of poetry.

Now, what of flowers?

How does purple jasmine rice anticipate a poem?

This is the first time cooking and tasting purple jasmine rice. Nutty & sweet. Luscious color. Won't be the last. I'm thinking what poem can converse with --

timbale of purple jasmine rice surrounded on a pretty plate with the followed sauté

fresh ginger, roasted/marinated garlic
shrimp with tails (for the grabbing)
snap peas
a bit of soy sauce

you can eat the color

and what poem ensues after lips licked?

How does breakfast inspire a poem?

That's when breakfast centers around the unexpected. Smoked pepper salmon, sliced Persian cucumbers, and the freshest of fresh strawberries (add a leaf of lemon thyme). The next poem written will unlikely be narrative. It's all about color. It's all about the layering of tastes. The striation of sound.

Oh, what a year for strawberries.

Which poems resemble a platter of roasted beets?

Hopefully, the next ones written. There is nothing as beautiful as sunrise/sunset, beets, a poem with fine & true surprise. Each full of the weight of the ripe -- experienced freshly.

What does olive oil have in common with the paper a poem appears on?

Both are medium. Olive oil for cooking (all dishes, all manner of) and paper for gestures, sometimes poems. All things need a beginning. A go-to, so to speak.

Which vegetable spearheads the writing of a poem?

Asparagus.
Steamed or roasted. Plain or in the the company of --

asparagus salad with shrimp & almonds & olive oil & black pepper & lemon & tomatoes (if they be ripe) & depending upon the season either fuyu persimmons or manila mangoes

What happens when you peel a poem?

You get skin. And what to do with that?

Which brings us to the real topic -- the influence food has on poetry at the most immediate & intimate levels.

How is the refrigerator a casebook for managing poetry?

No, not magnets. No poems on the refrigerator (although I have no problems with them).
Consider, how cleaning out the refrigerator is akin to sorting through all your poems and giving the heave-ho to those that would best serve as mulch.

Tomorrow is garbage day and there are scraps of poems aplenty for pick-up. The refrigerator is looking quite smart, too.

How does a beautifully crafted pizza ensure a fine poem is forthcoming?

First, what beautifully crafted pizza? To cornmeal crust add smoked salmon, tomatoes, goat cheese, olives. This tastes as fine to the mouth as a fine poem would.

A good meal ensure conversation.
What is a poem if not conversation?

How does the refrigerator influence a poem?

Opening.
Seeing.
Tasting.
Touching.
Arranging color.

What one word is shared by food & poetry?

What to do when the dish and the poem miss the mark?

The mouth, the ear understands failure. Mentions it and moves along. Dwelling on the less-than never invites abundance.
And what is writing, what is a fine meal if not abundances. Rainbow chard being an extravagance.

A few days ago, I roasted kale. Didn't work. Neither did the lines of poetry that morning. Discarded, both. Looking forward to what the next remodel of leftovers will issue.

Hue. What is a truly ekphrastic poetry about hue?

Is this another way to say, "And if the eggplant weren't purple?" Of course, that invites the retort, "And what of the albino aubergine?"

Hue is intrinsic to a poem. A poem is intrinsically taste & color and the sound of each. And all.

How does the shape of a dried pear influence that of a poem?

Not the shape as much as the level of unexpected sweetness. Yet balanced. Nourishing. Poems can have the same effect in the mouth.

Regarding shape, some poems appear deflated as a piece of dried pear and as the latter, a such-shaped poem can be unexpected and mighty sweet.


WHILE WAITING IN THE KITCHEN FOR A POEM TO BE REALIZED, YOU REALIZE THE SHAPE OF A DRIED PEAR MUST BE ALTERED

she took
a pair
scissors
cut the dried
pear
bits
& pieces
placed
in small
(very)
bowl
inverted
thus
a mound
appears
on white
plate
befriending
the perfectly
ripened
cheese

What is the most prevalent hue among vegetables and poems?

No single hue can describe.
Nothing singular about perspective.
The eye makes a plural of the singular.

What connection between asparagus and the unwritten poem?

Anticipation. Looking forward with glee to the advent of plentiful asparagus in the markets. Knowing it won't be long and the waiting, rewarded. The mouth knows such things.

Sometimes there's a specific moment when you know the next poem will be begun. Sometimes with glee. Always with a sense of expectation.

For sure, dread in either asparagus or poem-making.

Purple jasmine rice. What is Pjr's connection to the next poem to be written?

It's not usually held as fact but I believe poems anticipate their color and taste. Just as I sit anticipating the aroma of this special rice my body leans toward the black notebook. Seconds before, three fingers lift the fountain pen.
Inevitable is taste. And before than, inevitable is anticipation.

Rice and poems share in common several genes.

How is a meal for a special occasion like a poem of the same ilk?

Let's define "ilk." The ilk is occasion. The occasion of a remembrance, perhaps a birthday. Yes, two birthdays -- Susan Black and Liz Hack a few days apart as February moves into March. What astonishing artists, both.

Bring on bright vegetables; and ample the celebration. And grateful, the friendship.

Besides durian which foods are inedible; which poems impossible?

Because you asked -- pretzels are an impossible food for me. Even those stuffed with peanut butter, which friends in Walnut Creek fancy.
Now poems. Poems which are topical in subject and don't rise or slip deeply rarely beguile me.

Can you imagine what poem corned beef & cabbage will inspire?

No. Some questions are premature. This is one example.

More on this next month.

Afternoon tea. What sheen to the next poem?

White tea. Green is the sheen of the next poem -- at least the majority of lines. Spring is here; green competes with a host of radiant color.

Will the next poem rival the showy cardinal rhodies in the neighbor's yard? Like poems, flowers don't pay much attention to boundaries. Makes me thing of tea's relationship to water. Unfurling leaves of green and tinge of slight amber.

What synapses are there among a poem, blog, & meal?

Figure out what's for the next meal and the poem and the blog will follow.
Contemplating a new blog (once a week, perhaps) on awegallery.com.

Contemplating is a quiet way to do. At some point, a knife will be brought forth. A plate. Always the candle. Inevitable, the pen.

How do carrots predict a poem?

Go-to -- food and word.
Let it known: carrots are one of my go-to foods. In their own right & as a touch of color in a dish sorely in need of such. Right now, "grandmother" is my go-to -- word, voice, shorthand.

COMFORT FROM AN IMAGINARY GRANDMOTHER

saute' carrots in olive oil,
when brown & golden add walnuts, fresh rosemary, twist of pepper
to which can be added grated Parmesan cheese
if time & energy, toss with pasta

How do smoked salmon, cucumbers, and strawberries relate to poetry?

Meals and poetry are interwoven. To smoked salmon with a pepper crust add sliced cucumber, and, yes, sliced strawberries. The visual intrigues; taste surprises as the last line of a working poem does. A bit of startle. Perhaps, a bit of breath taken away/given back. In all, the perfect weight of an echo.

I think it's the added panache of strawberry. What do you reckon?

Chop chop. What is chop chop and how does it relate to poetry?

Chop chop are leftovers employed in the service of side-dishes of little savories. Bright colors in small dishes. A tablespoon or so at a time. Makes me think of blink poems and how a blank page invites them as if an inviting bowl.

Yesterday's chop chop is today's chop chop. Yesterday's poem is today's poem. Let's remember and honor the longevity (staying power) of leftovers whether it be in the form of food and/or alphabet.

For an example of chop chop, pls see blog post 2/14 -- Frittata. Thank you.

Company. How is company similar to a poetry submission?

Expectation. Time sensitive. In short, the deadline. You use what is on hand/at hand. You put experience to the test and say (perhaps, at least for the moment) it is finished. At least for now. So, let's sit down & taste what has been written. Based on these principles, wouldn't you say that company and poetry readings have much in common?

Leftovers. How do leftovers inspire one to write a poem?

Poetry has much in common with cooking. It's the making of. Those out-takes of a poem (aka leftovers) might well become a title or the last fitting line of a new poem. Leftovers are anything but left over. They are starter, they are culture (think yogurt) of a meal. We all know a poem is a meal. Right?

Frittata. How is a frittata akin to a poem?

Well, what kind of frittata? The simplest the best. Thus, two kinds of cheese, dried lemon thyme & pepper. So, you see such a frittata is equivalent to a just-begun poem. When you add a side dish of enhanced olives you're on your way to find an audience.

Minimalist Epic: One instance (bordering on an incantation) of enhanced olives to bring forth an audience

black pitted olives
picholine olives with pit (variety of varietals & pit/no pit all to the good)
tiny plum tomatoes
marinated garlic cloves
almonds, raw
extra fine olive oil

mix & serve with a previously-referenced frittata

made all the better if the cat is sitting across your arm as you type. purrs contribute positively to cooking & the writing experience (inseparable but that's for another discussion)

Wooden bowls. How do wooden bowls resemble a poem?

These specific small wooden bowls have just been oiled and are now waiting to "cure." Empty by design but full of promise. The equivalent in poetry is making sure the pen has ink and paper plenty.

Garlic bread. What kind of poems are inspired by this?

First, let's discuss this garlic bread. Friend Rich arrives with the bread from our favorite bakery. The garlic is soft, almost buttery with the unmistakably taste & smell of when slow roasted. Perfect with sharp cheese. Small dish of olives.

Perhaps, a poem will reveal itself later. Garlic & olives being personal catalysts for writing. Lemons, also.

Cooking for one is like writing for one, isn't it?

There is something sacred about preparing a simple, healthy, colorful meal for one with at least one unexpected ingredient.
Perhaps, it's true when one writes only for oneself (for the joy of it) that at least one audience appears.

Besides, look how similar a pen is to the knife.

Oysters. How do oysters resemble editing a poem?

For oysters it's in eating at least a dozen. One after another.
For a poem it's re-reading, re-reading until the taste, the texture combine in a palpably fresh way. That's the process of editing.

For me, this comparison is null and void with clams on the half-shell. Cooked, yes.

Blood oranges. How do blood oranges inform poetry?

Infuses the element of surprise with the element of joy.

All against a backdrop of the ripe.
Which is to say, seasonal.

Personally, I can't slice into a blood orange without thinking of enjambment. Perhaps, this is just personal.
Nevertheless. And yummy, too.

Rice. What's the connection between rice and "thus" in poetry?

Or "perhaps."
Or "nevertheless."

Rice and words. Each separate and combined to make the meal. Some might say complex carbohydrates. Others, simply yummy.

Yes, insert "yummy" between "perhaps" and "nevertheless."

What does cooking for more than one have to do with poetry?

Cooking and writing are meditations.
Usually singular in nature.
The sharing of which is community.
Invite the others to the table.
Be appreciative of an audience. Be kind to them.

Lentils. When is a poem earthy?

Let's reframe the question.

Where do poems come from?

Each lentil, a taste larger than its petiteness.


Lentils w/
cardamon, cumin, coriander, almonds, butter, roasted onions, garlic, black pepper.
Top with steamed petite string beans

What kind of meal does an extended poetry title inspire?

tapas

What is the influence of bacon on poetry?

Yes, lower case.

Undeniable flavor.
A hint of the outlaw.

Sinful
bacon
wrapped around a date.

What about tomatoes and apricots straddle a poem?

Color. Specifically, mixed medley cherry tomatoes (organic) and Turkish apricots. To which add an accent of green. Perhaps basil. Oil oil and wild fennel vinegar, might do nicely. Or snap peas with their inherent nature of haiku. Meanwhile, haiku (the cat) straddles the cellophane box of tomatoes and the bag of apricots.

What in a poem is equivalent to a splash of fancy vinegar?

Let's confer on a fancy vinegar. I'm thinking Juniper Berries or Wild Fennel or even Raspberry Balsamic. Just reach across the table and snag a trinity of taste.

A slash here; a dash in the poem.

Almost unseen; however, palpable.

How does a memorable meal siren a poem?

The same way walking does. Senses are open & grateful. Words ensure. The ripe celebrated. Ah those perfectly roasted potatoes. Those petite poems.

How does surface affect the writing of a poem?

In the same way as it does a meal if the kitchen table surface is desk for pen & computer. Writing & eating are one in the same meal.

Perhaps, the same can be said for reading.

Is it true that the size of the writing surface influences the outcome of words and space? (Table and notebooks various). Probably.

What advice does the refrigerator offer a poet?

Open me.
Take what you can use.
Make something fresh of the left behind.

A fine meal, a fine poem always knows
what has been taken out. What is only hinted at.

What do plates and paper bring to the poem?

Size, dimensionality & deadline.
Also, hunger defined. Satisfied.

Now, let's implicate the pen.

What about a bagel inspires a poem?

Structure. The bagel is a great example of wrapping itself around the nothing.

In poetry this occurrence is called silence.

How do you describe the taste of a poem?

In 7 words or less? "Ah, the rewards of the unexpected!"

Look to the invisible be it silence, be it flavored olive oils or vinegars. Always the surprise. The unexpected.

How do you know when a poem is finished?

Let's ask the cook. How do you know when a meal is finished? Both poem and meal rely on hunger & deadline.

What bond do eggshells and poetry share?

Containment. E-shells are a perfect and efficient container for an essential food. A poem carries forth words. Both are fragile & durable. Both versatile.

Shape informs & satisfies.