Tags
C Dale Young, food, food poems, Ode, Ode to the Onion, Ode to Tomatoes, OpenLinkNight, Pablo Neruda
Welcome to OpenLinkNight everyone! As you know OpenLinkNight is your opportunity to link 1 poem of your choice as this is no prompt-day. For those who missed the Mr Linky deadline this Tuesday’s poetics or any poetry prompts that you have missed in the past, this is the opportunity to share your poem. Out of courtesy, please link back to dVerse Poets Pub if you are sharing your poem.
Happy Thanksgiving to our USA poets and friends! As this is a week of gratitude – for all that is good and delicious – here are food poems written as an ode. If you are mulling what poem to write or share, as an option, you can use this as your prompt – an ode about food.
Ode to a Yellow Onion
BY C. DALE YOUNG
And what if I had simply passed you by,
your false skins gathering light in a basket,
those skins of unpolished copper,
would you have lived more greatly?
Now you are free of that metallic coating,
a broken hull of parchment,
the dried petals of a lily—
those who have not loved you
will not know differently.
But you are green fading into yellow—
how deceptive you have been.
Once I played the cithara,
fingers chafing against each note.
Once I worked the loom,
cast the shuttle through the warp.
Once I scrubbed the tiles
deep in the tub of Alejandro.
Now I try to deciper you.
Beyond the village, within a cloud
of wild cacao and tamarind,
they chant your tale, how you,
most common of your kind,
make the great warrior-men cry
but a woman can unravel you.
*****
Ode to Tomatoes by Pablo Neruda
The street
filled with tomatoes
midday,
summer,
light is
halved
like
a
tomato,
its juice
runs
through the streets.
In December,
unabated,
the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars.
It sheds
its own light,
benign majesty.
Unfortunately, we must
murder it:
the knife
sinks
into living flesh,
red
viscera,
a cool
sun,
profound,
inexhausible,
populates the salads
of Chile,
happily, it is wed
to the clear onion,
and to celebrate the union
we
pour
oil,
essential
child of the olive,
onto its halved hemispheres,
pepper
adds
its fragrance,
salt, its magnetism;
it is the wedding
of the day,
parsley
hoists
its flag,
potatoes
bubble vigorously,
the aroma
of the roast
knocks
at the door,
it’s time!
come on!
and, on
the table, at the midpoint
of summer,
the tomato,
star of earth,
recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.
Grace said:
Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving to our US friends. Let me what you are cooking or baking today? Also, I am out of the office and will read your poems in a bit. We are stocked with wine, coffee and cakes at the bar. Lets celebrate gratitude !
dorahak said:
Hi Grace! I wrote an ode to a mystery food. But I’m going to help myself to a great big slice of pumpkin pie and coffee at the moment thanks 🙂
Grace said:
A big slice of pumpkin pie and coffee for you Dora. Love your mystery food, so yummy!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
good evening, late in a week I am usually tired, this week is a week of change, my own company is now ready for business, and I am now truly self-employed, it is interesting to learn all that new stuff, so I only made a small little poem. Thank you for sharing the Nerudian ode, I remember it well when we had that as a poetry form all those years ago.
msjadeli said:
Congrats on your company being open for business!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
http://brudberg.se
msjadeli said:
Catchy slogan!
Frewin55 said:
Good Luck with your new company Björn and what a brilliantly poetic metaphor you have chosen in the Plimsol Line…
Grace said:
How exciting Bjorn. Good luck. Yes, we did have this ode form prompt a while back.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I remember the one Tony did… https://dversepoets.com/2013/11/21/form-for-all-modern-odes-with-a-taste-of-chile/
dorahak said:
Checked it out. From “Ode to Socks”:
“Outrageous socks,
my feet became
two fish
made of wool,”!!!
Congratulations, Björn, on your new business! May it enjoy much success.
msjadeli said:
Hello Grace and All. Thanksgiving for dVerse and poet communities wherever they may gather. Raising a glass of Magners. Cheers!
Grace said:
Cheers to you! Happy Thanksgiving!
Oloriel said:
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates! Thank you for this opportunity to join in, just as I wrote another villanelle. It won’t bite anyone, I promise!
Grace said:
Thanks for joining in. Looking forward to reading your villanelle.
merrildsmith said:
Hi Grace and All! Just took a second in the midst of Thanksgiving prep to post the poem Sanaa and I wrote. I’ll be back to read over the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving and/or Happy Thursday!
Grace said:
Happy Thanksgiving Merril. Love your collab poem with Sanaa.
merrildsmith said:
Thank you so much, Grace. Thank you for hosting!
freyathewriter said:
I didn’t miss it this week! I’m looking forward to reading some excellent poetry 🙂
Grace said:
Yeah! Thanks for joining in Freya.
Xan said:
Happy Thanksgiving to this wonderful community. Shared one I wrote when I wasn’t able to comment here, so no one’s seen it!
Grace said:
Happy Thanksgiving! Looking forward to reading it.
Laura Bloomsbury said:
Happy thanksgiving to those of you celebrating – no food for me as its late but a warm honey and lemon please to help banish a cold virus – even so I managed a poem
Grace said:
The cold weather is also affecting us. Here is your warm honey and lemon Laura. Take care.
Frank J. Tassone said:
Good evening, Poets! Thanks, Grace, for hosting OLN today! Happy Thanksgiving for all celebrating!
Grace said:
Happy Thanksgiving Frank!
Frank J. Tassone said:
Thanks, Grace! 😀
Frewin55 said:
Late again but I promised to post the poem I read out on last Saturday’s OLN Live…
Grace said:
Thanks for joining in. Have a good weekend.
pvcann said:
Many thanks for hosting us Grace
Grace said:
Thanks for joining us Paul. Have a good weekend.
pvcann said:
You Too Grace 🙂
zipferlake said:
Thanks a lot. I think I’ll try a food poem one day. For today I found another one to post. It’s somehow connected to gratitude as it’s about the poetry of life itself.
Grace said:
Looking forward to it. Thanks for joining in.