Elissa here ~ The prompt for this particular post was to write a poem in the form of a recipe. I have deviated from the form of a recipe, but I’ve focused on the theme of recipes and cooking. If you will, the poem is a recipe detailing all the emotional baggage associated with food and family and cooking and growing up and whatnot (the point being that a recipe doesn’t always involve step-by-step instructions).
A pinch of this, a dash of that.
That is the way of things.
Cooking, much like coming of age,
cannot always be conquered with a family recipe.
What, are you just going to
eat out the rest of your life? mother says.
Are you going to hire a cook?
If only you could make that much money.
As a writer.
Stepfather can cook, but is too much of
“a cook.” Everything too rich, too
complicated.
Sometimes life is already too tart
for dark chocolate and raspberries.
Father cooks, but doesn’t
even keep butter and salt around.
No milk, either.
You ask for a carton, and
a box of cereal, but
by the time you return to his house
the cereal is stale and the milk
is sour.
Our food says so much
about whether or not we’re okay.
The spongy, off-brand mac & cheese
crammed into your elementary-
school thermos, the jelly on your
peanut-butter-&-jelly turning
the wheat-not-white bread to mush.
That alone
could make you cry.
Leftovers three days in a row,
lost all moisture, lost all motivation,
and you take the car keys,
slip out quietly.
The grimy diner down the street
gives you eggs, bacon, hash-browns, all
smothered in gravy, in relief.
When you return home, the house is hushed.
In the dark, you thumb through
the shelf of recipe-books
beneath the wine rack
and next to the napkins.
This is a really cool poem. I enjoyed and it left me feeling pretty hungry. I like how you used the person's lunch to sort of characterize the person who's eating it and what how they're feeling. I wonder what pizza and Mcdonalds says about me...
ReplyDeleteI identify with this so much. I like seeing elements of your family, whom I know and love, in the ways they cook and the things they make. I agree entirely about the food saying a lot about the family and how they're doing. I like the sentiment of that not being solvable with the recipe. But I guess the theme of mutability that you established in the third line didn't come through for me necessarily. I like the macaroni and the pbj references to childhood foods and what not, but I guess I wish that was more developed, or perhaps a different problem in the line "cooking like coming of age" maybe I just wasn't reading it right. But I loved the meter and the ideas. It was beautiful and funny, poignant and sad. Thanks for Sharing!
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem. I love the contrast between "father" and "stepfather." Both are vividly illustrated in a way that resonates with me and my experience with people I'm close to and their kitchen/larder habits.
ReplyDeleteI love the stanza about the leftovers and the diner, very accurate. I pictured it perfectly. This poem made me think about food and cooking in a new way
ReplyDeleteThis is such a neat poem. I really liked the imagery you used to describe the peoples food and to a larger extent their relationships with their environment.
ReplyDeleteI loved this poem! Especially "sometimes life is too tart for chocolate and raspberries". I loved everything about this poem, it was written so well and subtly funny while still getting a point across. It made me think of a wannabe-cook who learns by candlelight in the night because her family life is below-standard and harsh, not giving the author the intellectual freedom to cook elegant dishes. Idk. But this was a really cool post.
ReplyDeleteThe whole metaphor of how the food relates to the dynamics within the family was really nice; I quite liked the poem. I can empathize with how bad food (and stressful family life) can make you feel down.
ReplyDeleteI mean Elissa, everything you write is already perfect, so this should be expected, but dang girl this is a good poem. I love the subtle use of metaphor like Sam hints at. My favorite line was definitely "Our food says so much
ReplyDeleteabout whether or not we’re okay." Really struck me. Awesome job!
oh man, this is so resonant, much more than I would expect from a recipe. I like the way you end it, quietly, yet with so much power and significance. very elissa.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the "our food says so much" line. what a beautiful poem. :')