Thursday, November 21, 2019

A Sweet Ending to "Playing with Your Food Poems" Week


"Summer" (1573) by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

I've had food on my mind this week thanks to Rebecca Herzog's invitation to write a poem about a food that you feel is most deserving of its own national day. If there's one thing I've learned reading more than 1500 DMC poems over the last 5+ years, it's that food is always a popular subject!

So what did I do? I dubbed this "playing with your food poems" week at Today's Little Ditty and shared daily food-themed poems from this month's "Words at Play" padlet. Kim Norman's "Pecan't" was featured on Monday. (Enjoy National Pecan Day next year on April 14th.). On Tuesday, David McMullin treated us to "Papa Slime". (Sign me up for National Guacamole Day next year on September 16th!) Tabatha Yeatts' "Rosemarried" was featured on Wednesday. (Did you know National Herb Day is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of May?) And on Thursday, we enjoyed Cindy Breedlove's "Talking Turkey." The national day for turkey-feasting? Everybody knows that! (Time to stock up on pumpkin, squash, and stuffing, folks.)

"These are not the gourds you're looking for."

Today I'll be closing out our week of food ditties with three poems that appear in The Best of Today's Little Ditty 2017-1018.

Purchase your paperback or ebook copies HERE, or contact me if you'd like
one signed by me and Miranda (I have a few extra).


The first poem I'd like to share is Bridget Magee's excellent response to the "Personified Feeling Poems" challenge offered by Jeannine Atkins in February 2017.

Lisa Yarost
FRENCH FRIES WITH A SIDE OF OH MY 

Embarrassment squeezes between Julio and me
at the lunch table.
The ketchup packet feels
the pressure,
bursting in such a way
that Julio wears
the flush of my cheeks
for the rest of the day.

          – Bridget Magee, © 2017

Why of course there's a National French Fries Day! Mark July 13th on next year's calendar.


Next we have Rebecca Herzog's sweet response to the May 2017 challenge, in which Melissa Manlove asks us to compare writing (or a book) to something else.

B.B.
SLURPEE

Grab a cup
So excited

Top it off
Mind ignited

Great big sip
Tale united

Big brain freeze
Uninvited

Wince in pain
Muse indicted

Shake it off
All doubt blighted

Push on through
ending sighted

One last swig
Scribe delighted
                    – Rebecca Herzog

As you might have guessed, July 11th is Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven! Maybe not an official "national day," but as good a reason as any to celebrate, no?


Finally, when J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen challenged us to write an epitaph poem in February 2018, Robyn Hood Black pulled this clever confection seemingly out of nowhere:

owlpacino

EPITAFFY

Pulled and stretched
in twists and turns -
picky permutation.

A chomp.  A chew.
The End. Of You.
(Sticky situation….)


                    – Robyn Hood Black


Yep. National Taffy Day is May 23rd on the 2020 calendar.


So there you have it. Although I would have liked to share a poem about a food that deserves a national day, apparently all seven of the food poems I've featured this week already have their own special days! Sheesh.

And now I'm hungry. Breakfast, anyone?

aulia.m

Be a good egg and join us, won't you?

zhouxuan12345678

If not a food poem with words at play, any ol' wordplay poem will do. Read Kate O'Neil's spotlight interview for more details, add your poem to the padlet, and stay tuned for next Friday's wrap-up celebration!


Many thanks to everyone who dropped by to help me celebrate the release of The Best of Today's Little Ditty 2017-2018 last week! I appreciated all of your kind congratulatory messages (and so did Miranda). Today I'm both touched and honored that Kimberly Hutmacher is showcasing the book and my poem "Don't Ask a Hopkinsaurus" at Kimberly Hutmacher Writes.

As previously mentioned, "Slurpee" poet Becky Herzog is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup. She's got more food poems and a smorgasbord of other poetry goodies at Sloth Reads.


12 comments:

  1. Many, many words to celebrate here, Michelle. I feel like writing "the world is awash with words, munch a few, a poem will do" or something like that. I love your idea of sharing food poems this week, smiles all week. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  2. "A chomp. A chew.
    The End. Of You."
    Thanks for sharing these charming food poems, Michelle! Love all three.

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  3. Wow -- what a delicious feast of poems! My kind of post, thanks so much, and congrats again on the new anthology!

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  4. Oh, this post is TOO much fun. Thank you for including my poem. And I'll eagerly await that signed & Miranda-doodled copy of this wonderful new collection - CONGRATS all around. Is it lunch time yet? XO

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  5. I am looking forward to my copy coming this week! All these delightful food poems have whetted my appetite! Congratulations on the release of the latest Ditty collection. It looks fabulous!

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  6. What a delicious post! How clever or you to share food-related poems all week as well.

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  7. What a fun post to come home to after a long day. The food poems are so fun! I need to get to the padlet for some inspiration. I haven't had any hit me yet. But, I'm giggling over these. I do love the Hopkinsaurus poem. What a tribute!

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  8. 7-11 day is one of our favorites. And we have 2 pretty close to us, so we sometimes double dip. It's a fun way to cool off in the hot Florida summer. :) Thanks for sharing these!

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  9. Perfect choices to end the week, Michelle- three of my favorites from the collection :)

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  10. De-Licious! Thanks for including my poem along side the two delicacies on your ditty menu, Michelle. I look forward to reading all the amazing poems contained in the forthcoming anthology! =)

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  11. Still smiling from all these wonderful foo-ditties what fun they all are. I must say the egg pics take the cake–no pun intended. Looking forward to my book coming this week too, thanks for the head up Michelle! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! xo

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