read write prompt #2: eat, drink, write a poem
by Jill Crammond Wickham
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!
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March 10, 2010 | 6:33 pm“Beginning April 1, Poets.org sends one new poem to your inbox each day to celebrate National Poetry Month. The poems have been selected from new books published in the spring.” Sign up here.
- and it keeps on coming: our (virtual) tour of molly gaudry’s ‘anatomy for the artist’
March 9, 2010 | 1:00 pmLawrence Gladeview has posted his thoughts about Molly Gaudry’s electronic chapbook, “Anatomy for the Artist.” Find the post at Righteous Rightings.
In case you missed it, the first stop was Donna Vorreyer’s, at her blog. Next was Catherine Fitchett at Poetry Chook.
You can find information about the chapbook and tour here, including a link to where to find it and read it online.
- obama’s first hundred days in poetry
March 6, 2010 | 8:36 amArielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker challenged 100 poets to note the political climate of each of President Obama’s first days in office. The blogged poems have been anthologized in a work called Starting Today: 100 Poems for Obama’s First 100 Days, which will be released in April (ahem, National Poetry Month, although you can pre-order a copy at their blog site).
Read about it here. A hat tip to Rethabile Masilo who posted a link to Rachel Zucker’s poem at his blog, Poéfrika.
- announcing the next stop in our (virtual) tour of molly gaudry’s ‘anatomy for the artist’
March 4, 2010 | 11:14 amCatherine Fitchett is one of our hosts on the (virtual) book tour of Molly Gaudry’s electronic chapbook, “Anatomy for the Artist.” Find out what she has to say at Poetry Chook.
In case you missed it, the first stop was Donna Vorreyer’s, at her blog.
You can find information about the chapbook and tour here, including a link to where to find it and read it online.
If you would like to get on the tour host schedule, join the Read Write Poem Virtual Book Tour group and leave us a note on the wire or forum page. (We’re looking for a few more people in general and for April, specifically. It’s not to late to get on the tour and get a copy of January G. O’Neil’s Underlife, our tour for April.)
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Thanks, Jill. This looks like a really fun prompt. I’m going grocery shopping this weekend!
Mmm, this is going to be yum…
‘Chocolate coated crisps tickle my mind and water my palette with flavors from a heavenly crunch.’
This came to me for no reason as soon as I caught this prompt. I know this will be interesting to write, be sure to stop by my place to taste my wares on Wed, folks. BTW, did I just write an American sentence?
oopsy, no excuse for my spelling mistake! read palette – as ‘palate’
‘Chocolate coated crisps tickle my mind and water my palate with flavors from a heavenly crunch.’
the food would be great, I promise
I just ate a Power Bar. I bet there’s not a poem in that meal. *smiles*
I don’t know, Ceridwen, the texture of those things is a complete mystery, powdery but gooey all at the same time!
Uncanny. Before even I saw it I wrote one on fruits.
Might as well post it here!
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com/2007/11/feeding-demon.html
[...] for the prompt #2 at Read Write [...]
[...] at read. write. poem. this week, we’re posting links to poems we’ve posted about food (here’s the original prompt). mine is giving me a hard time, and i’m not sure it’s going to end up any place but [...]
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