Poetry Friday--Oatmeal Challenge

Stephen Dobyns begins his poem, "Oatmeal Deluxe," like this:

This morning, because the snow swirled deep
around my house, I made oatmeal for breakfast.

In the rest of the poem, the oatmeal is sculpted into a woman, and the poem ultimately deals with the subject of love, or the lack of it.

I first came upon a poem about breakfast cereal when I found Galway Kinnell's "Oatmeal." And then, not too long ago, I found a response to that poem by Martin Steingesser, also called "Oatmeal."

What is it about poets and oatmeal? Have you come across an oatmeal poem? Have you written an oatmeal poem?

I looked through my own cache of poems and found nothing on oatmeal, but, I did have a haiku that mentions another breakfast cereal:

easter...
cap'n crunch french toast
at the local cafe

That left me a challenge to write a poem about oatmeal. Could I do it? I could certainly try...

The Dishwasher's Lament

I worked hard.

My jets are exhausted
scrubbing your bowl clean.
But, really, oatmeal again?
Must you consume it every
cold and snowy day?
I expected more of you--
have you become the clichéd
porridge-eating poet? Do me a
favor, prove me wrong.

The next time the sun
splashes its rose across
fresh swirled snow, grab
your well-scrubbed bowl,
fill it with figurative
oats. Splash it with
metaphorical milk. And
please, I beg of you, use
a throw-away spoon.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

How about you? Will you write about oatmeal?

After a hardy breakfast, head over to Wild Rose Reader and enjoy the Poetry Friday Round-Up.