Saturday, August 1, 2015

Summer Rerun #4 – Tickle Your Taste Buds with Guest Prompter Diane Lockward


Originally Posted Wednesday, August 4, 2010


Note: This week’s summer rerun is a guest prompt by Diane Lockward.
  
From Diane:

I’m often asked why I write poems about food. My interest, of course, goes back to childhood. I was a fussy eater whose father insisted that every plate be cleaned. I became adept at surreptitiously getting rid of food I found disgusting. While I had no appetite for vegetables, I had a big sweet tooth. But the foods I loved—cake, cookies, candy, ice cream sundaes—were prohibited by my father who wanted me slender. My cravings only increased. On the sly I consumed entire jars of Marshmallow Fluff.

At some level, perhaps, I'd begun equating food with risk, danger, punishment, deprivation, desire, hunger.

I went to Sunday school and met Eve and learned about the garden, the snake, and the apple. I must have filed all of that away for future use. Fruit, temptation, capitulation, expulsion, abandonment.

I saw the film, Tom Jones, and was mesmerized by that famous eating scene in which Tom and a buxom woman he meets at an inn sit at opposite ends of a long table and proceed to rip apart chicken legs and stuff their faces with juicy grapes, all the while gazing at each other with seduction in their eyes. Food and sex. Of course! 

So for me food has all kinds of connotations. I don't think I'm unique in that. Consider, too, how many of our social rituals are connected to food. Special dishes for special occasions. Romantic dinners. Repasts. And memories. Aren't there certain foods that call up memories, good or bad? And think of the sensory appeal of food; every part of the body is somehow involved. Finally, food intrigues me for its rich metaphorical potential. For example, in my poem, “The First Artichoke,” the artichoke becomes emblematic of a family with its many layers, its heart at the center, a heart that’s fragile. 

I'd like to add that while the title of my second book, What Feeds Us, invites the conclusion that I am a “food poet,” in fact, that collection contains only nine poems that are overtly about food, and each one of those nine is really about something else. Look at my poem, ”Linguini”—is it really about pasta?

Linguini

It was always linguini between us. 
Linguini with white sauce, or 
red sauce, sauce with basil snatched
from the garden, oregano rubbed between 
our palms, a single bay leaf adrift amidst 
plum tomatoes. Linguini with meatballs, 
sausage, a side of brascioli. Like lovers 
trying positions, we enjoyed it every way 
we could—artichokes, mushrooms, little 
neck clams, mussels, and calamari—linguini 
twining and braiding us each to each.
Linguini knew of the kisses, the smooches,
the molti baci. It was never spaghetti
between us, not cappellini, nor farfalle,
vermicelli, pappardelle, fettucini, perciatelli, 
or even tagliarini. Linguini we stabbed, pitched, 
and twirled on forks, spun round and round 
on silver spoons. Long, smooth, and always 
al dente. In dark trattorias, we broke crusty panera, 
toasted each other—La dolce vita!—and sipped 
Amarone, wrapped ourselves in linguini, 
briskly boiled, lightly oiled, salted, and lavished 
with sauce. Bellissimo, paradisio, belle gente!
Linguini witnessed our slurping, pulling, and 
sucking, our unraveling and raveling, chins 
glistening, napkins tucked like bibs in collars,
linguini stuck to lips, hips, and bellies, cheeks 
flecked with formaggio—parmesan, romano, 
and shaved pecorino—strands of linguini flung 
around our necks like two fine silk scarves.


Click Here to View the Rest of the Prompt

Click Here to Visit Diane Online


8 comments:

  1. Hi Adele,

    I have to agree with a comment by Jamie Morris from last week's prompt: "It's great to see the poems that these prompts inspire!" You never know what will turn up!

    ~ ~ ~

    Tempted in the Kitchen of Eden

    It is clear that to be tempted
    when hungry to eat rotten fruit
    is to walk out of the kitchen
    with an upset stomach and unable
    to return in time for the meal
    cooked by the chef with never
    a tenderer pair of hands.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Adele,

    ~ ~ ~

    Grandma's Chicken Broth

    A chicken cut in four into a large pot
    of sixteen cups water cold
    and one of rice followed by the season
    of salt and pepper to a boil,
    reduce to a simmer for an hour
    alongside parsley shredded fine and onion small.

    Remove the chicken from the pot, and the meat
    from the bone, continue to simmer the broth
    and return the bones to the mix
    to cook for another hour. Next time I'll tell you
    about Grandma's chicken pie and a gravy
    of gizzard, liver, and neck.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I remember this one! Just as 'tasty' the second time around!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great to know that you remember this one, Jamie! Thanks so much for your comment!

      Delete
  4. This is the precise weblog for anybody who needs to seek out out about this topic. You notice so much its almost arduous to argue with you. You positively put a brand new spin on a subject that's been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for your comment! Much appreciated!

      Delete