It’s Day 2 of our 2016 daily write-in. This year’s theme is FOUND OBJECTS. Thanks to all of the poets and writers who contributed objects for our daily prompts.
For those of you who are new to the project, please read my introductory post. You’ll find more information and all of the Week 1 FOUND OBJECTS at this post.
On to Day 2. As I was going through potential prompts, I noticed a few themes developing among the objects we found. One category of FOUND OBJECTS is interesting food. Since we’re focusing on using all five senses in our writing this year, food is a perfect way to get our sensory imagery flowing.
Found: Fancy Produce
Today’s object(s) was sent in by Mary Lee Hahn of the blog A Year of Reading. I’m guessing Mary Lee found some farmer’s market treasures to share with us.
Let’s start with Mary Lee’s response today. You can also find this poem at Mary Lee’s blog.
Ode to Summer Produce
I realize now, in the grey shrivel of winter,
I took you for granted.
Your abundance overwhelmed me.
Your spectacular crunch became ordinary.
How I long for your vibrant colors!
How I miss your ripeness!
Seed packets dance in my dreams.
(Shovel, hoe, trowel and water jugs hold their peace.)
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016
One of my favorite things to cook, especially in the fall and winter, is soup. Jessica Bigi’s poem really warmed me up!
Vegetable Soup
By Jessica Bigi
Vegetables
Eggplants
Green peppers
Egg noodles
Tomatoes salt
Alphabet noodles
Bay leaf beats
Lentils leeks
Elbow macaroni
Summer squash
Onions oyster crackers
Unbelievably delicious
Parmesan cheese smile
Fans of Poetry Friday will recognize Diane Mayr’s style in this art/poem creation. Diane says, “Mary Lee’s vegetables reminded me of the veggies exhibited at the Topsfield Fair this past October.”
children’s exhibit…
a decided irreverence
for vegetables
By Diane Mayr
Molly Hogan’s poem for today is filled with great action verbs. Check out her blog post about the poem here.
A rainbow of vegetables
Cascades across the cloth
in a vegetable tangle
Richly hued glossy skins
and upright stems
like jewels from a casket
in burnished splendor
glistening with ruby lights
and polished emerald hues
A garden offering.
Soon the sharpened knife
will slice crisply
piercing taut skins
chopping, dicing, mincing
exposing seeds nestled deep in the core
or scattered throughout the flesh
carving out slivers and slices
on the scarred cutting board
stained with pooling juices
a stew?
a soup?
a sacrifice.
by Molly Hogan
I’ll never forget a visit to the farmer’s market, when the Pepper Man gave my young son a chocolate pepper to taste. He ate the whole thing like an apple, to the farmer’s amazement. I’m in with a short rhyme today.
Chocolate Pepper
By Laura Shovan
Looks like candy,
crunchy, sweet,
glistening in summer heat.
Cooking and eating are closely tied to family traditions and memories, as we see in Linda Baie’s pepper poem.
Yesterday in August
I remember my grandmother
pulling peppers from the vine.
Baskets full, washed at the pump,
then slice and fill the jars–
her winter’s garden.
That day, we kept some to taste.
They’re crispy water,
ready for salad,
lunch on the summer porch,
fan whirling overhead.
Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved
Speaking of families and food (and poems), Matt Forrest Esenwine left an adorable note with his poem today:
“My 2-year-old is demanding my attention, so it’s a haiku today!”
sunlight pierces morn
refracts through rows of raised beds
vegetable prism
– © 2016, Matt Forrest Esenwine
Wow. Check out the playfulness in Margaret Simon’s pepper poem. I love it, and this comment: “I am composing on the yellow notepad on my laptop. That way I don’t feel there’s as much of a commitment to excellence. This one was just fun playing with the sounds of words.”
Peppers
By Margaret Simon
Peppers purple
peppers green
squash
squash
squash
I see ya, eggplant
think you’re hiding
in your shiny skin?
Market days
are silver dollar days
when fresh is
as fresh does.
Make me a salad,
please.
***
Great to see Charles Waters cooking with us today.
MAKING A MEAL
Dicing peppers
slice, slice, slice.
Chopping carrots
clop, clop, clop.
Roasting turnips
crack, crack, crack.
Washing lettuce
scrub, scrub, scrub.
Salting eggplant
dash, dash, dash,
Grinding tatters
mash, mash, mash.
Now it’s time to take a seat,
yes, it’s time to eat, eat, eat!
(c) Charles Waters 2016 all rights reserved.
***
Finally, my dear friend and critique partner Jennifer Lewis is joining us!!
Market Fare
By Jennifer Lewis
The musky scent of summer’s gifts,
Arrives solicitous, upon the wind,
Gazes adrift consume the view,
As organic rainbows suffuse,
Joyful laughter ebbs and flows,
Crimson juices southward goes,
Melodies contour their staff,
As mothers sway, bounce and tap,
Fill your bag and fill your soul,
There’s more at market than escarole.
***
Donna Smith of the blog Mainely Write says, “My childhood memories of my mother’s vegetable garden – from which we could freely eat any time of day.”
There Was a Rainbow
There was a rainbow
– Rose from earth –
Drawn from my mother’s hands
And we could pick those colors sweet
And
Eat
And
Eat
And
Eat.
©2016, Donna JT Smith, all rights reserved
***
You’ll find Carol Varsalona’s digital design for this poem at her blog, Beyond Literacy Link.
Market Day
Summer’s a’coming!
Vegetables galore-
fresh riped-pick
not from the store.
Foods I adore!
©CVarsalona, 2016
***
Jan Godown Annino’s poem is about the vegetables, but also about our poems today.
DAY 3 FOUND OBJECT PROMPT
See you tomorrow for Day 3.
If you’d like to read what we’ve written so far, here are links to this week’s poems:
Monday, February 1
FOUND OBJECT: 100 year-old mailing box
Poems by: Diane Mayr, Molly Hogan, Mary Lee Hahn, Linda Baie, Jessica Bigi, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Catherine Flynn
I am composing on the yellow notepad on my laptop. That way I don’t feel there’s as much of a commitment to excellence. This one was just fun playing with the sounds of words.
Peppers
Peppers purple
peppers green
squash
squash
squash
I see ya, eggplant
think you’re hiding
in your shiny skin?
Market days
are silver dollar days
when fresh is
as fresh does.
Make me a salad,
please.
[…] over to Laura Shovan’s website to see a feast of fresh market, vegetable soup poetry. I am writing my poems on the yellow notepad […]
I have no idea what tomorrow’s picture is. Here is a Bead Haiku.
Please ignore my
provocative position.
My shadow self intrigues.
Thank you for sharing my story with you students
Love all those tiny spots of glory for the vegetables, and today I have a ‘grey shrivel of a day’, Mary Lee. We did take them for granted. Jessica, I like the ‘parmesan smile’, and Diane, you spoke well for those vegetables. Molly, I love the spiritual tone, from ‘offering’ to ‘sacrifice’. Laura, thanks for all, but I’ve never heard of a chocolate pepper, and assume that they ‘glisten’ like no other. Matt, that ‘vegetable prism’ is wonderful, and Jennifer, love that community spirit, and especially the final line. Margaret, your cheeky tone is great. Fun to see what might arrive tomorrow!
Thank You Linda
Thank you, Linda!
Thanks, Linda. I love the idea of your grandmother’s winter garden!
Day 4
http://www.maryleehahn.com/2016/02/found-object-poem-mystery-objects.html
Mysteries
The mysteries of the world are myriad.
Sometimes they look like little balls of butter.
Sometimes they clump together in the shape of South America.
The mysteries of the world puzzle us.
They make us take our glasses off and look so close
we dust our noses with them.
The mysteries of the world hold hidden ripeness.
Each might contain a new life,
or the possibility to change the weather patterns of the entire world.
The mysteries of the world cast shadows.
Hovering above, they block the sun
and send a chill through us as they pass over.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016
Love the idea of dusting our noses with the mysteries of the world!
This picture was certainly challenging!
Mystery Orbs
I itch to pick one up
squish it with a POP
and see what oozes out,
feel the dripping liquid
sticky on my pinching fingers.
I yearn to bite
and sink my teeth
into pale, silken green
to discover
if they are as juicy
as they look,
sugar-sweet like candy
or tongue-zapping,
puckering sour.
God forbid they’re bacteria!
What variety! Which is exactly what one gets at the farmers’ market. 🙂 I am loving Margaret’s yellow pad and “fresh is as fresh does.” Also Diane’s trademark irreverence. A chocolate pepper?? Must try! I have lived Linda’s poem, and I am so grateful. Well done, all!
this pic seamed scary to me
but hear my go at it
day 6
Poem By Jessica Bigi
Store Window Dolls
Umbrella bonnets
Lock’s looping crullers
Blinking eyelash eyes
Walking talking crying
Umbrella dresses
Store Window Dolls
Hoping for hugs
Day 4
The Art Opening
The beads leapt off the canvas.
Adults were amused observing the child
who reached out to touch the beads.
They wouldn’t admit their desire to touch, too.
Even the shadows felt like mistakes.
The artist was that good.
Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved
[…] Tuesday, February 2 FOUND OBJECT: Fancy peppers and produce Poems by: Mary Lee Hahn, Jessica Bigi, Diane Mayr, Molly Hogan, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Margaret Simon, Jennifer Lewis. […]
[…] Tuesday, February 2 FOUND OBJECT: Fancy peppers and produce Poems by: Mary Lee Hahn, Jessica Bigi, Diane Mayr, Molly Hogan, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Margaret Simon, Jennifer Lewis. […]
[…] Tuesday, February 2 FOUND OBJECT: Fancy peppers and produce Poems by: Mary Lee Hahn, Jessica Bigi, Diane Mayr, Molly Hogan, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Margaret Simon, Jennifer Lewis. […]
MAKING A MEAL
Dicing peppers
slice, slice, slice.
Chopping carrots
clop, clop, clop.
Roasting turnips
crack, crack, crack.
Washing lettuce
scrub, scrub, scrub.
Salting eggplant
dash, dash, dash,
Grinding tatters
mash, mash, mash.
Now it’s time to take a seat,
yes, it’s time to eat, eat, eat!
(c) Charles Waters 2016 all rights reserved.
[…] Tuesday, February 2 FOUND OBJECT: Fancy peppers and produce Poems by: Mary Lee Hahn, Jessica Bigi, Diane Mayr, Molly Hogan, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Margaret Simon, Jennifer Lewis. […]
My childhood memories of my mother’s vegetable garden – from which we could freely eat any time of day.
Day 2
There Was a Rainbow
There was a rainbow
– Rose from earth –
Drawn from my mother’s hands
And we could pick those colors sweet
And
Eat
And
Eat
And
Eat.
©2016, Donna JT Smith, all rights reserved