This is a light portfolio of recent poetry

Hello World, here I am!

Ketchup a la Gertrude Stein
Ketchup Poesy
(1)
Red sauce or orange paste
Tomatoey and sour-sweet

(2)
Sauce of tomato: sweet, salty, sour, reddish
Not meant for fine cuisine
A fast food topping

Ketchup (a la Gertrude Stein)

To cook or not to cook
Should I query for recipes to match the ingredients at hand? No
Tis better to save fine cuisine for a more skeptical audience
(Children prefer a quick meal on days like today)
Perhaps I will just throw some food together
A skillet, a pot, some oil, some salt and pepper
All fugitive-grade comestible materials
This meal is no art class
Some bread, some ketchup, a few crumbs of cheese
The toaster oven set to "pizza"
A ding-a-ling effort at best (no real dinner tonite)
Then, to use a coffee-stained sponge to wipe the table
The centerpiece - a small bowl full of condiments & oddities
No vase full of wildflowers, nor a bouquet of any real flowers
Not even a nosegay of silk or candy flowers
Then, to add a pitcher of ice-water and some paper napkins
Plastic implements, utensils & tableware
Placed in the center of the equally plastic table
Back to cooking:
To plop the mystery meat into the skillet
Into the coal black skillet from the Cape Cod hut
Of course - just do it and damn the cookbook to the dungeon
Then, to add an equally mysterious leftover spice packet
A small cup of water, a squirt of ketchup
Now we have sauce
The toaster oven dings (goes "ding")
(Look who answers it tonight)
As the recipients of the meal service sit (how Pavlovian).

Poultry Poesy

Would you like -
Turkey or chicken,
Guinea hen or duck?
There are plenty of choices
Tonight you have luck.

A yummy delight that I face on my plate this night
I say "It all tastes like bread!"
"This may sound queer,"
You reply "Not at all dear -"
"The crumbs taste like the meat."

Would you like your baked or boiled,
Rotisseried or fried?
Remember, the secret of boss horse
Is that "the secret is in the sauce."

We could have ours barbecued or stewed,
Tenderized or a la king -
Now, I wonder out loud
"Is this perhaps fish?"

Cat Food

You made a catty remark
Meow, miaow, purr
You clung to my arm
Purr, twitch, purr
You typed nonsense on the computer
Characters all askew
Your tail twitching
You look at me with glazed eyes
I am caving in to your demands
You sit on my desk
You curl up, mouse pad for a pillow
What do you dream of?
I click onto a pet food site.
You are there.
You gaze at the screen
We open a packet.
We pour a small bowl
We offer you choices
That I do not understand
Your communication of.
What do you want?
How do you like it?
I don't know.
I just try to give you
love and cat food.

Crumbs for Geckos

Geckos are not bums.
We don't know what to feed
The geckos we hold dear.
Fruit flies are kind of nice.
Not for every meal.
Hmm, I'd better think twice
Before creating this menu.

It's just experimentation
What sort of crumbs
This bum should feed
Her own little bums.

Perhaps I'm the mama bum.
I feed my little gecko chums
With the itty bitty crumbs
Refused by my fellow bums.

Cranberry Juice

Sweet and tart
I drank it
I took it to heart
The red juice
of the cranberry

For me to drink
Just for me
Nobody else
even asked for a glass
of cranberry juice.

Dark Meat Chicken

Dark Meat Chicken a la Gertrude Stein
Dark meat chicken
Dark chicken meat
Tender and cheap
A stew perhaps
Oh, slow-cooking crockpot
Or perhaps the oven

Tea

Tea

Some like theirs hot
Others prefer it cold
A few use it as hair dye
Tea rinses are subtle not bold

Some use tea leaves to read fortunes
Others use it to color their old sheets
Most folks think that it is tasty
At least as an occasional treat

Tea can be ordinary
Tea can be quite refined
Tea can be a special moment
Tea can be whatever you want

Take some tea home today
Try some tea you like if you may
Give tea a chance

Raspberry Tea

Raspberry Tea
A bit of aroma
Wafting through the room
A trail of natural scent
Melding into the plastic
Combined with the artificial
Mixing in with the filtered air
You noticed my aroma
You felt my presence
You commented on me
The special tea
You wanted me
Not just ordinary tea
You wanted to savor
The Raspberry tea
You spoke of to me
The fruity tea
With a delicious aroma
Perhaps we will meet again
Soon, maybe we will do lunch
Together.

Grapefruit
(The Big Citrus)

Big and yellow, with a sour flavor that's mellow
Maybe being touted for a healthy diet
Caused a reverse psychology riot
I find grapefruit quite moot.
The seedlings I'll root
They will make quite a fence
To tell the neighbors "get ye hence".
I like grapefruit, and pack a few on the plane.
We get off at our dream destination.
Just for your information -
We are briefly as popular as the lunch truck.
Big and yellow ugli fruit or grapefruit.
Hurray for the big citrus.
I am nobody.
Nobody really likes the fruit.
I like grapefruit.

Dinner with Mr. D

Alphabet soup by the tub
It's not yours
No rub-a-dub-dub
In this fine tub

You'll get your grub
You're a beggar now, bub!

Write it and shred it
Don't eat it.

It's alphabet soup
For Mr. D!

Yummy words in your tummy.
Don't whine
Don't fall behind.

Alphabet soup
for you, rube.
You didn't write it, dupe!
Don't be such a rube!

Ting-a-ling ling
The dinner bell rings.
Let's be polite
Be quiet about alphabet soup tonite!

You'll get your noodles and your broth. Let Mr. D eat the paper shreds tonite.

Tangelo

Hybrid fruit

Ode to the tangelo

Here is a citrus in high demand
Plant ten times as many as you planned
Relatives will stay over
While friends and strangers
Will stop by to try tangelos
Or to offer barter deals
Regard how your household feels
About tangelos
Perhaps you should
Add tangelos to their meals.

Senryu - American fast food

Fast Food Senryu
Fast Food Senryu
(1)
For my hamburger
Bread, meat, lettuce, tomato
Pickles and ketchup

(2)
To eat or not to eat
Ketchup and bread crusts with cheese
Is this a question?

(3)
The thick, saucy red
Is just so appetizing
Tomato ketchup

(4)
All about the ketchup bottle
It could be plastic or glass
Pour it or squeeze out - ketchup

(5)
A poor man's champagne
Tomato and vinegar
Ketchup marries meat

(6)
Ants in parking lots
Taking homeward fast food bits
Ketchup on grass blades

(7)
Gleaming plastic shine
Glaring lights upon food
Burgers, fries, and drink

(8)
Melting cheese - plastic
Food and petroleum fumes
One feeds the other

The good stuff mustard

Grey Poupon Mustard
The good stuff
Mustard with visible bits from the real seed.
The counter person says that real mustard has horseradish in it.
Or, perhaps is aware only of the mustard with natural seasonings
Who knows what he knows of mustard
(I do not think he is saying)
Mustard is not served here
(I suspect he resents that there is not a dram of mustard here at his workplace)
It is not behind the counter or on any shelf at this fast food establishment
You will not find a speck of Grey Poupon anywhere inside here
(Nor will you find a packet of any reasonable mustard within these walls)
Not at this mustard-less storefront
It's a mustard-free zone.

Ode a la Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein - Tender Buttons (notes)

A book by Gertrude Stein
essays and writings and journal entries
poems and poesy and verses
the chapters go
Objects
Food
Room
she wrote in the 1900's
a turn of the century writer
famous hostess
famous writer
essayist
published literati
not quite a modern glittery literait
publishable
(I do not understand her works with a scan or a skim or a short swim through the pages very well)
slim volume
(I have dreams of reading this many times, looking through the pages gives me a deja vu feeling - the "I have read this before" feeling)
verse
terse
(yes, this is terse verse that packs a meaningful punch of prosaic, polemics, idioms and philosophy - though exactly what all will be explained later)
challenging the rules of grammar
(reinventing sentence structure)
daring work at the time
(reflecting the fragmented logic of the era)
chapbook
slogans
verses
poems
essays
a story
titles like:
wool hat
the room
oranges
apples
lamb (or perhaps mutton)
potato
roast beef
French bread
shoes (?)
dress (?)
hats of colors
(I could imagine air raids during her scribing)
1914 - 1917 World War I
contemporary of Picasso (who painted Guernica)
friend of several writers
acquaintance of numerous notables
writer's collective organizer
(a surrealist writer in some ways to words like Dali was/is/will be considered to painting)
This is supposed to be an ode to food.
To shopping, the new millenium
Words of capitalistic intent
We are having a party
It's a small change dinner
Dinner party
Always having supper
Then, the midnite snack
An early morning tea
Breakfast
Coffee service
Mid-morning snack
Lunch
Petit-fours and tea
The mid-afternoon high tea
We're always having a party 
 

Food

We all need vitamins and minerals and nutrition.
We should drink and eat without contrition.

To eat or not to eat
To starve or not to starve
To struggle or not to struggle
To survive or not to survive
These are not very deep questions.

Food could be fun
Although drinks are number one
I need to eat
It keeps my body complete

There is breakfast - that is fun
Coffee eases my headache
Tea makes for contemplation
Juice jazzes up my existence
Milk is for children

Why do I eat cookies now?
I never ate them as a child.
Cookies are for kids.
I miss my spinach pies.

Yellow mustard
Mustard Poesy
Yellow and clearly mustard
The generic kind in the squeeze bottle
Plastic-looking mustard, though
It makes great paintballs
(Sigh)
The kind of condiment used on fortified white bread
To give meat by products some taste
Tie dye your shirt with bright mustard yellow
Or this colorful yellowy condiment
Eat that mustard
Love your mustard as you eat your food
Muster up some more mustard
The better mustard will only answer the call of money
Without cash there is no mustard seed to hope for
Get a dollar and it will holler for the good mustard

Ovaltine TM

What is so oval about the teen?
It can be mixed with cow's milk
Or you could choose the juice of soybean.

It's healthy and tasty
With a taste that might be good
Or might be just a bit sweet.

Some folks prefer not to drink it.
Others just will sip a bit.
I try not to swill Ovaltine for a meal.

Manners, you might say are no big deal.
As a drink this is not exactly quick.
It's Ovaltine to me.

Healthy and tasty enough.
Ovaltine fuels the body
Without a fuss.

Oatmeal

Beige, yet cream colored
Soft, thick, and bland
Oatmeal for breakfast

Just to satiate
Not to gourmand
A healthy hot cereal

This is good today
To stave off hunger
To keep the chill away

Oatmeal cookies
or oatmeal pie
Or the granola standard

Horses like oatmeal
so do I to my surprise
The stuff is bland

What is the big deal
Why does oatmeal appeal?
It is not a silly cereal.

Iced Coffee

It was a sandwich sort of a picnic
During free coffee afternoon
At the local outlet
Of our world's jolly green giant coffee chain.

We splurged, buying our coffee
Getting there early -
We had a half a scone
We had half a muffin

We worked all morning
At the cafe office
We shrugged it off
Over our free iced coffee.

Nut butters

A machine grinds noisily
The peanuts into peanut butter
This is fresh and tasty
I wait patiently

The midnight visit
To the tiny mart
Yielding only a few
Choices of plastic or glass
For our peanut butter sandwiches
(Trenton makes the world takes)

We go to the upscale mart
For the food taster, take heart
Your taste buds will not be deprived
By the selection (I could make this contrived)
Here of nut butters.

Here's almond butter, a patriotic treat.
Support Oregon while enjoying your food.

There's cashew, from way down south
Where newts might be migrant workers.
(Now that's imagination!)

The rare walnut butter is here
Grab it if you see this classic staple.
(It hails from the day of real maple syrup.)

Soybean butter is part of the latest gourmet vogue
Formerly fed to hogs, now the meal of the trendy rogue.

Pignolia (pine nut) nut butter a tiny jar will not serve twenty
So stock up and buy plenty!
(How does one do this without money?)

Nut butters bring about a tastier life
Or at least more soft-spoken parties.

Baguette

I left my bread at the art table
After going to sleep
Must have drifted off too long.
Oh, you beautiful, thin baguette-
How long and crusty and thin you are.
French bread to an extreme.

The cocktail loaves
for appetizers bring mumbles - "...just fine...".
Oh, why doesn't everything
for a party get there on time?

My sense of timing must be somewhat off.
-sigh- no baguettes, they are really...

Home delivery is still an option
Baguettes are best
For this special fondue concoction.
The mini-pizzas my aunties adore
Must be served on baguette slices.

A dozen assorted loaves of bread
From the local bakery.
The neighbors must think
I am quite flaky.

Two loaves are baguettes.
Oh, thank the lord!
The appetizers are loved
That were just an hour ago
abhorred.

Donut

Greasy and sweet
A plebeian treat
So tasty to chew
Dissolves in your coffee

Oh
Goo-goo
It's not dew

It's a donut-
A monocle for the chronically challenged

This is a holey pastry.
Without taste buds it's quite tasty.

Some of us find it inedible.
Except when we are desperate.

Donut holes, donuts, crullers
Take all you want
Give all you are able.

Heavy spicy bread
That humbles.

Donut

Vinegar

Sour grapes
Lead to this
The glass bottle
For the crystal carafe

No wine today
Perplexed container
Fusing emotions into me

Outside myself
I used to watch dancing couples
In the wine bottles
Now I see tears
In the vinegar

Salad dressing
Sweeten it up a bit
So versatile

Vinegar

Pizza

Sitting and looking at the pizza

Schoolbooks by my side
The soft cheese, too hot to eat.

Pizza is food
Food is good
Simple food - that's pizza.

Water

The clear water
Just a photograph
The image projected
Unlike the puddle
I find myself seeing
Instead of the pool
Pristine and filtered
Filled with chlorine
Frogs are swimming
Chameleons are dancing
About and within the waters.
The rain falls
It is pure and fresh
No acrid smell
Nor yellowish tint
There is not a taste
Unlike bottled sweet spring
Water can be so different
Yet, still truly the H2O
acqua vitae et noce taciturnum.

The throwing about of words...

Peppermint Tea

Spicy fresh tang
Green-looking
Yet so yang
Peppermint.

You spice my skin
Refreshing -
with twin sensations
Both cool and hot
A steaming cup
of peppermint tea.

Soothing scent
of aromatic coolness
Slowing down thoughts
Not heaven sent
Relaxing the palate
Stopping the madness
Try peppermint tea.

So cool and friendly
You gave up your life
To give me drink
Once a plant waving
In the breeze
Now part of
a cup of peppermint tea.

Ladyfingers

We find them now and again at the grocery shoppe
At the end of the aisle during berry harvests
Or, perhaps at will by the frozen artificial toppings
A tempting treat for all.

Oh, Ladyfingers
Such a treat
We must have them
Please, please please

Last night, I awoke to screaming children
Arguing over s'mores in their ladyfingers
It is good - tis not, the dining room esconced with tiny flames
The smoke alarm unplugged, gray fumes from miniature marshmallows
inside a small pool of chocolate bits in ladyfingers.
Some say that ladyfingers are best on hands.

Oh, Ladyfingers
Such a delight
We must eat them
In the middle of the night

Little Yellow Crackers (Goldfish Crackers TM)

 
Little crackers in a bowl
You call to me
I miss the stream
I miss the koi pond
Cry into my crackers
Without being obvious
It's a party
Everyone else is having fun
While I consume
Goldfish crackers.
Watching the party
They are small and round
We used to play with them
As children we would savor them.
Now, I watch the handfuls moving out
The bowl being emptied quickly.
The college students, beer in hand
Goldfish crackers in the other
The latest group of Greek letter bearers
Wandering through the house
Dropping Goldfish crackers
That are clodded on into the flooring.

Bagel

Can you finagle a bagel?
Is that good if you are able?

It takes too long to boil them down
Who wants bagel pudding?

They are knocking at the door again.
It's another bag of bagels for me.

Some will stay fresh
Some will stay cold
Some will stay wrapped in plastic
The rest I will boil
Yes, it may be toil
However, bagel pudding is good.

We like our bagels.
We hope this is clear.
Bagels in all kinds of flavors.
Bagels for every kind of favor.
My cousin uses them for paperweights.
She says for this they are really great.

I like my bagels soft.
To each his or her own.
 

Supermarket
Groceries

It's the store of needs.
A place to supress hope.
All is good
All is tasty
All is fine
All is well
The grocery store, a common ground.
A place to subdue the self.
All is yummy
All is fresh
All is divine
All is delicious
The harsh lighting, the backdrop for cameras.
All consumers are players here.
All is eye-catching
All is packaged
All is advertising
All is marketing
Admonishing myself for coming here again.
The conventional supermarket looms -
Merely a concrete and glass villa.
All is sanitary
All is palatable
All is regular
All is edible
Facelessly, adrift through cans and bottles,
I squander my time pinching pennies.
It is meditation
It is contemplation
It is like a treadmill
It is relaxation 

Gaseosa

La agua carbonata
Me gusta divertir
Este bebida hay sin canciones
Mirar a las paredes
me excusa por sonreir
Puede ser es la gaseosa
No hay memorias de tu.
Refrescante tuyo
Te hablo
Me hables
Solamente en mis suenos.

Soda water

The water carbonates
I like to amuse
This drink has without songs
To watch the walls
it excuses to me by to laugh
It can be the soda water
There are no memories of you.
Refreshing yours
I speak to you
You speak to me
Only in my dreams.

Bier hier

Ich bin trinken
Und mit keine wurdet
Wir bin tanzen und frohliche
Fur bier
Bier ist hier
Hier ist der bier

I cannot speak German
I don't know a word
So please ignore this poetry
It's being written by the cell phone.

Wir haben lager
Das ist die froliche zum
Spracher bier immer deine Haus
Wir Sprechen bier
Das ist die Herz ob schlagen
mit keine arbeiten und deine fragen
Wir gluck mit deine bier!

You must have me mixed up
With someone else
I've never been to Germany
And it's the computer
That is singing this
It's all done by pixellation...

Tsingen und tanzen mit deine bier
Der bier sprache ist froliche
zum Sprache ob die Jungen und die Alt
Habe einz bier fur die Mutterland
Habst zwei bier fur die Frau
Habst drei bier fur deine Haus!

Bagels

Ten-dozen bagels and a twenty dollar bill.
Must somehow feed fifty, that's no thrill.
Here we have jam and butter and cheese.
A few donations, not enough to appease.

Cebolla

Estoy llorando por totalmente de la dia
Hace lluvia cuando me puedo parada
Las nubes "hay triste" dice alguien
Puede ser se encantado con una cebolla.

Onion

To parry the sweet with your pungent bouquet
I would myself do without delay
Though others would be contrite
To consume this savory delight
So, I use you sparingly or not at all
For what I like drives others up the wall.

Patriotic Pizza