Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “For today's prompt, write a sight poem. If you can see it, poem it. If you can't see it, poem it. If you can see another interpretation of this prompt that is neither of these, then, please, poem it.”
Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Start by reading Alberto Rios’s poem “Perfect for Any Occasion.” Now, write your own two-part poem that focuses on a food or type of meal. At some point in the poem, describe the food or meal as if it were a specific kind of person. Give the food/meal at least one line of spoken dialogue.”
A two-parter on both prompts, though I must confess the "sight" aspects are pretty much just a mention of "seeing" in each of the parts.
Halo-Halo
1.
The prime unrivalled Philippine dessert
made of fruit gels, like sugar palm fruit
or kaong, strips of young coconut or
macapuno, jackfruit or langka, various
jellies, sweetened beans, layered
with shaved ice then evaporated milk
poured all over, finally topped with custard
or leche flan, and ube ice cream. This is only
one of the many ways to make halo-halo,
with diverse variations in different areas
in the Philippines. The word “halo” means
“mixed” in Filipino, and doubling the word
suggests it’s an ultimate blend: a "mix-mix."
Ever since I was a young child, halo-halo
has been my go-to. If I see a tall dessert glass
full of the lovely mix it has always said to me,
I must be eaten right now and right away!
2.
I am Halo-Halo. I am the ice-cold King
of the dessert world. I am constructed
of the sweetest substances to be found
throughout the known world, confection
of the gods. You can see me in food carts
on Manila streets as well as in 5-star
hotels in metropolitan paradises around
the globe. I am ambrosia, I am heaven.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Alan also worked with both prompts, with the two parts being recipes in Southern Living and also (sort of) in To Kill a Mockingbird. With regard to sight, there is a mention of "eyes" near the end.
So Much Shinny
The editorial staff of Southern
Living magazine authorized
a revision of the classic Lane cake,
giving it peach filling to augment
its traditional bourbon ingredient
and enveloping it all in a rich
buttercream, creating a sugary
icing upon fruity filling upon rich white sponge.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout
says her neighbor has baked
a Lane cake “so loaded with shinny
it made me tight.” I followed
a recipe that calls for ¼ cup
of bourbon, but I have seen recipes
calling for two cups. There comes
a point where one must acknowledge
that some offer the cake as an excuse
to deny their desire for bourbon.
By comparison, my Lane cake
is nuanced if naked,
offering filling but no icing,
a subtle bourbon edge
to its nutty, butter filling,
a demure cake that says,
“Take your time and enjoy,”
permitting the eyes and nose
to have their turn before
the palate can.
—Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Some good news: do you remember Catherine Pritchard Childress, who was my NaPoWriMo buddy in April 2012? She was at that time a grad student of Alan, my NaPoWriMo buddy this April (and other Aprils in the last several years). Well, Catherine has a new book of poetry titled Outside the Frame. Here's a link to Eastover Press's webpage on the book. "In Outside the Frame, Pritchard Childress gives full-throated voice to those who are historically silenced, while bearing witness to a complex culture that both perpetuates that silence and cries out to be heard and to be seen. . . . Outside the Frame is a book of light and dark, of strong voices and wide-ranging perspectives. These poems will linger in the reader’s mind long after the last page has been turned."
I hope you will pick up a copy of Catherine's book, available on Amazon. Congrats, Catherine!
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
Ingat, everyone. ヅ |
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1 comment:
Good (delicious?) stuff today, guys. Vince, that has got to be the most colorful dessert I’ve ever seen. I’ll have to try it sometime. And congrats to your friend Catherine!
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