When I was teaching an elementary poetry class a few years ago, the topic was food. I brought in all kinds of food for the kids to try and write about. We wrote poems about fruit, mostly, because I knew it was something they would like. Lovely, inspired poems about oranges, bananas, apples, strawberries were writ by all. But the poem that has stayed with me all these years is “Coconut,” which began: “It slides down my throat like spiders … ”

What food do you love? What food do you hate? Have you ever tried ugly fruit? Mango? How do you eat your mango? Walk the aisles of your local grocery store. Ignore the stares of the curious and whip out your notebook. Write down the names of foods that interest you. Line your pockets with the mini-recipes they sometimes provide. Right now, in my purse, are recipes on tiny little cards for:

• mango tango salsa
• kumquat salad
• simple sugar snaps
• Brussels sprouts skillet
• pomegranate shrimp

Food tastes can run to the eclectic. Remember the book How to Eat Fried Worms? How about writing your own “How to … ” poem? How to eat, how to cook, how to grow [fill in the blank]. Use your senses. You don’t just have to taste something. Feel it. Smell it. Look at it. Listen to it.

Maybe you have a food memory. Favorite holiday feast? Elementary school breakfast? First date meal?

Your food memories, your senses, your love of words, even your local market can provide you with the ingredients. All you need to do is cook up a poem!

Keep On Poem-ing!
~Jill.