read write prompt #69: what's eating you?

by Jill Crammond Wickham

What’s Eating You?

It’s something we do every day, whether we like it or not. Some of us do it because we have to. Some of us do it because we enjoy it. Some of us think we are experts. Some of us choose not to get involved. It’s a disorder, an addiction, a pleasure and a necessary evil.

Food. Eating it. Preparing it. Aisles and aisles of it. Grown above ground, underground. Traditional, nouveau, comfort, low fat, high fat.

It’s like a part of the family. It has its own room, or at least its own large, refrigerated rectangular box, its own cool, dry shelves behind closed doors.

What is your relationship to food? What is your mother’s or your father’s relationship to food? What food did you first prepare on your own? What food did you prepare last night? What about the most exotic food you’ve ever eaten? Hey, what are you eating right now? (Careful! Don’t spill anything on your keyboard!)

One of the first poems I read in college was “You Can’t Write a Poem About McDonald’s.” The imagery and metaphors made me a believer in the notion that you CAN write a poem about anything. Need more inspiration? Take a research trip to your local market. Buy some interesting foods (always wanted to try ugli fruit?) and write about your culinary experience. Don’t forget to check out some of these great food poems: Li-Young Lee’s “Persimmons,” Mark Doty’s “A Display of Mackerel,” and Alfred Corn’s “Wonderbread.” Of course, any search of Pablo Neruda will garner you some delicious odes to a variety of fruits and vegetables!

This week, keep a running list of what you eat, what you cook, what you dream about eating, what you refuse to cook, what you wish someone would cook for you. Then, come back next week and tantalize our taste buds.