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**ANNOUNCEMENT!!**
Two chances to join Open Link Live (OLN LIVE) this month:
Thursday, October 12 from 3 to 4 PM EST and Saturday, October 14, from 10 to 11 AM EST. *** If you’re not in the EST time zone and wonder what time these OLN LIVE sessions run where you live, go to https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter. How to participate? Simply click on the link that will be provided on the dVerse page and join us with video and audio. Read a poem of your choice or just come to listen. The more the merrier!
NOTE: You may still post ONE poem as usual to OLN, even if you do not join us live.

Hello, dVerse poets! It’s Merril from southern New Jersey where autumn is in full swing. I am not a fan of the early darkness or the cold, but I do love the coziness of blankets and soup.

I have always loved soup. As a child, I loved chicken soup, and one of my favorite early childhood books was Maurice Sendak’s Chicken Soup with Rice. Carole King put the book to music. (If you can’t see the video where you are, it’s worth searching for.)

I stick to vegetarian soups now, but they are still comforting and delicious. I recently made one with white beans, dill—and rice. I added some tomatoes I had to use up, too. I can remember my mom making pots of soup—no recipes for any of them—the way I still make soup.

This poem by Daniel Nyikos chronicles his first attempt at making potato soup connected to his mother and aunt by webcam.

As you’ve probably guessed, we’re going to write about soup. You can write about soup you love (or hate), preparing or serving soup, or anything else about soup. Or if you don’t want to write about real soup, use it as a metaphor.

If you need more inspiration, you may want to write an ekphrastic poem inspired by this painting by John Lewis Krimmel, “Pepper Pot: A Scene in the Philadelphia Market” (1811). This is a vivid portrayal of early 19th century Philadelphia, which was a diverse city of immigrants, and which also had a large free Black community. Pepper pot is the name of the popular soup. It had Afro-Caribbean roots, and it was a spicy concoction that always included beef tripe.

John Lewis Krimmel, “Pepper Pot: A Scene in the Philadelphia Market” (1811), Philadelphia Museum of Art, 125th Anniversary Acquisition. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Leisenring, Jr., 2001

So—write a poem in any style about soup. You may choose to write an ekphrastic poem using the provided image.

Add the link to your poem in the Mister Linky box below. Then visit others to see how they interpreted the prompt!

I can’t wait to read your delicious poems!