Licking the batter bowl
mother didn’t know that it could kill us
sweet sugar egg flour
on our tongues
now verboten
she didn’t know those little pet turtles
(the ones in their plastic island paradise)
with salmonella all over their tiny prickly feet
could kill us
now verboten
mother didn’t know that our cotton pajamas
could kill us
when we fell into the fire
now verboten
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Dutch word verboten has such a nice sound to it. Verboten is German, verbose Afrikaans
crucial to finding the way is this there is no beginning or end only a lingering in the middle caught in the middle of nothing and nothing with no end marks and capital letters no space whiteness on a paper where a word isn’t and silence takes over just a blob of words on a page of middleness
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dVerse prompt on prosy using Jo Harjo’s line Crucial to finding the way is this: there is no beginning or end. combined exercise with Ursula K. Lê Guin’s Steering the Craft Exercise 2 to write with no punctuation
So many times
this nursery rhyme spoken
a tongue twister
with its own history
Pierre Poivre
missionary from France
with an eye on peppers
places to plant and grow
and a recipe for pickling
no refrigeration
so Peter Piper picked
and pickled
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dVerse prompt on stream of consciousness following my first experiment with pickling peppers. This rhyme was a childhood favorite.
Searching on the website
like going down each aisle
I want this— out of stock
I want chips— not a healthy choice
I want pantry foods— ones that keep
red lentils
split peas
garbanzo beans
make a soup— better than canned
make the order Sunday night
Monday 7 am
the joy of groceries delivered
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NaPoWriMo prompt to write a review. My experience with online grocery shopping. I miss going down the aisles of the grocery store but this will have to do.
Just a few more days
these bananas will be ripe
for banana bread
that is if no one eats them
can’t let that happen
going to hide them now
there will be banana bread
tomorrow
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NaPoWriMo prompt on a fruit. So hungry for banana bread. With the family sheltered in, it is hard to keep some foods from disappearing. Cashews are banned so we can’t fight over them anymore.
Honey on ghee
you are the honey
I am the ghee
you pour over me
so sweet
so delicious
two together
in harmony
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NaPoWriMo prompt to take an idiom from a language and culture not your own.
Arabic writing from 20 Common Arabic Idiomatic Expressions
I want to do a praise dance for the dishes
which presented the evening meal
served the grilled vegetables
ancient grains & hearty soup
I want to shout my praise over cucumbers
sliced into a bowl & offered plain
with their crunch adding to the chorus
of appreciation as they fed me
I want to give an offering to the water
that cleaned the plates & bowls
my hands in the warm suds then rinsed
with feelings of nourishment & thanks
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NaPoWriMo prompt to be overly appreciative.
red pear so rare
soft skin juicy
taste delicious
Potato peel
best fried crisp
lemon peel
to use for zest
peel a carrot
into the salad
for pie
apple peels
must go
onion peeling
makes me weep
peel the garlic
before I mince
if they
can’t be used
into the compost
peelings go
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dVerse quadrille on peel
Kenya sugar snap peas
leeks and cucumber Holland
Tesco radish and asparagus mushrooms from China
baby corn and red chili Thailand broccoli from Spain
local lettuce
baby carrots from USA
Haricot vert from Italy
India okra
bananas from Ecuador clementines from South Africa Australia mandarins
Pakistan and Egyptian mangoes New Zealand apples
green apples from France
local beets
seedless lime from Vietnam eggplant from GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)
Morocco provides tomato
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supermarket in Dubai
