Rushing in from an activity
of enforced abstinence
and tearing the wrapper off
cramming all eagerly
Remembering to take a little
with you next time
and nibbling slowly
at intervals to keep you going
Making preserves and garnishing
your pantry so that those Summer
flavours are there to sustain you
come Autumn and Winter
Building a shelf of seasonings
to keep the taste buds
tingling with excitement
against the threat of ennui
Savouring the memory of
past dishes – great feasts
whose memories you can still smell
forty years on – even when you’re not hungry
Handwritten recipes—a diary of
a life lived through food
each recipe conjuring time and place
– discovery of ingredients you came to love.
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, sanaarizvi in Poetics, invites us to write about what love means to us in light of the upcoming Valentine’s Day…
In my writing group, Deborah had the same idea and presented us with Love Like Salt by Lisel Mueller so this poem is written in the shadow of that one…
I enjoyed the example poem, ‘Love Like Salt’, Andrew, and I love the way your poem begins with ‘tearing the wrapper off’ and ‘cramming all eagerly’, and the good advice in the following stanzas, and especially:
‘Handwritten recipes—a diary of
a life lived through food
each recipe conjuring time and place
– discovery of ingredients you came to love’.
Yes, Deborah finds some good prompts Kim – thanks…
This is exquisitely drawn, Andrew! I especially admire this part; “Making preserves and garnishing your pantry so that those Summer flavours are there to sustain you come Autumn and Winter.” ❤️❤️
Thank you so much Sanaa…
I can really feel the appetite throughout your poetry. Really cool memories too
Hi Andrew, this is a very nice poem. I especially like your last stanza. I also have recipes I’ve developed over my married life.
Yes Robbie – all marriages are unique recipes…
Thanks for sharing Lisel’s fine poem … you have quite the talent for ‘shadowing’, Sir.
In a metal box tucked away in a storage bin rest my Mother’s hand written recipes. I pull them out from time to time however as many others do, I’ve become a [google recipe hunter … shame on me.] Cheers, see you Saturday!
Thanks for that, Helen – I’m not sure which of my two sisters ended up with my mother’
s recipes and yes – see you tomorrow…
I love how you showed love through recipes, Andrew! Great poem!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
There are times when food is the only comfort and love as food must be remembered – thanks Yvette…
Nice sentiment in this metaphorical poem. The right relationship is something to savour.
Thanks Sean, it was mouth-watering to write…
I love translating this practice for love. It gave me goosebumps and made so much sense. Bravo.
Thanks Colleen, Writing in the shadow of Love Like Salt – the metaphor just flowed – we only had 15-20 minutes in the writing group and I made just a few tweaks when typing it out – just the one for Valentines week…
Thanks, Dora, I think I might consider adding another verse – it seems very short…
Andrew, I love the title of your poem and also how you ‘shadowed’ the poem assigned. For me food I prepare is my way of showing love. I so love your metaphors.
I guess that preparing food, whether for family or professionally, has meant love to me too Punam, but this prompt really brought it into focus…