dressed with lemon,
garlic, olive oil & mustard-
a chef's delight
but i like you best
bare
sliced open under rough snake
skin
velvet ripe & creamy
belly
drizzled with sugar
& cold milk,
bowled dessert
of indolent summer days
plump smooth,
slivers of ambrosia
your taste is only rivaled
by my other childhood memory-
cloistered nuns
making candied purple yams
stirring over
& over
flaming giant pan until
rough fibers turn sin-
fully lush
as nectar oil
decadent food
for gods
hand-bottled for sale in market -
pear-shaped
your green womb
wraps me tight like seed
coconut-shaped
pining for tropical sun-
Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - An oldie but good poem for today's Poetics by guest host, Lisa Fox (Jade Li). Join us for a food-inspired prompt at 3pm EST.
Picture credit: here
Sounds so delectable, both avocado and plums!
ReplyDeleteI like avocados. We sometimes put them in omelettes. I hadn't noticed before, but it does seem to have a "snake skin".
ReplyDeleteI've never had an avocado as a dessert! I can't imagine it. I love your evocation of food - food is so powerful in conjuring up childhood memories. I like the way you take us back to your childhood and then right back to the avocado womb.
ReplyDeleteI love this poem! Your descriptions are heavenly. :)
ReplyDeleteI, like Sarah have never had avocado for dessert- how interesting! A mouthwatering delight Grace.
ReplyDeleteSure tightly wrapped in am embrace indeed
ReplyDeleteI tend to forget that you are Filipino until something like avocado pops up. I fell in love with avocado ice cream on a trip to Manila. People forget that it is a fruit, after all!
ReplyDeleteI, too, was intrigued by avocado as dessert. Sounds scrumptious, as does the purple yam lush!
ReplyDeleteI imagine avocadoes have great memories for you also!
ReplyDeleteWell done!
A delectable poem, Grace! I also love avocado; my husband smooshes it and spreads it on toast. Your dressing looks delicious. The rough snake skin is a reminder of its other name, the alligator pear, although the name makes it sound quite dangerous! Avocado sounds more edible, like your description of its ‘velvet ripe & creamy belly’. I like the transition from avocado to purple yams and nuns.
ReplyDeleteMade me hungry, but it's a long trek to the kitchen and 2 a.m. Guess i'll just digest your words.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful ... the Pablo Neruda style of writing and ode is so inspiring for cooking. Especially the last part made me lick my lips.
ReplyDeletepear-shaped
your green womb
wraps me tight like seed
coconut-shaped
pining for tropical sun-
Few fruits are their equal!
ReplyDeleteWonderful imagery, Grace! Never thought about an avocado for dessert.
ReplyDeleteWonderfully sensuous -- ah to pause and soak in food before tasting!
ReplyDelete