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April 4, 2014

Poetry Friday--Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Photo by Jonny Valiant courtesy RealSimple.com

I was considering making soup and I decided to write a poem about one that has been on my mind--shrimp and corn chowder. (Don't ask why, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I guess I was hungry?)

So, how to start? The best way to begin is by assembling a list of ingredients.

Ingredients

unsalted butter
celery, thinly sliced
onions or scallions, chopped
carrots, diced
potatoes, diced
corn, cut from the cob
thyme
bay leaves
salt and pepper
all-purpose flour
milk
shrimp, peeled and deveined


I wrote an extremely clichéd poem about traveling to the ends of the earth to gather ingredients and then eating out. Lucky you, I had enough sense to realize how bad it was! Instead, I wrote a series of loosely related haiku that I've gathered under the title, "Shrimp and Corn Chowder."


Shrimp and Corn Chowder

in the cellar
a sprouted onion
to marvel over

chorus of "eews"
she pulls the vein
from a shrimp

her back turned
we snag pieces of
raw potato

measurement optional:
she was never afraid
of adding too much

3 x 5 cards
who knows what went
unrecorded

chipped soup bowl
--in those days no art
in presentation

the silk
on the tip of my tongue
shrimp and corn chowder

bedtime...
more than the smell of shrimp
lingers

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

This is the first week of National Poetry Month! Expect good things all month long. Begin by visiting with Amy at The Poem Farm where she is hosting the Round-Up.

And don't forget to come back for Ekphrastic Monday when I'll have the first in a series of epkrastic poems in celebration of National Poetry Month.

21 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to your series! I like the way you put these together -- I always learn something from you!

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  2. This poem makes me hungry for the chowder and for the family togetherness and snagging raw potatoes. Fulfilling in every way. Thank you! Happy Poetry Friday!

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  3. What a great idea to write about ingredients and process! I love "measurement optional" and "who knows what went
    unrecorded." This series brings back happy memories of family cooking projects. Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. It's amazing what was waiting to come out once I started in the the project!

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  4. Lovingly done, Diane. Wouldn't it be nice to create a haiku string for family recipes? the 'snagging raw potatoes' touched me. I remember! Thank you!

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    1. Can you explain further, Linda? I'd be happy to participate in anything you get going!

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  5. oh, what magic in a "chipped soup bowl" !! Wonderful. Thanks for making me hungry in the warmest way possible. :)

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    1. Thanks, Irene. It's funny you mentioned that particular haiku. It's one I feel needs to be rewritten since haiku is about the here and now, and that one definitely is not. Here's how I'd rewrite it:

      chipped soup bowl
      --there's no art in her
      presentation

      It makes it a bit more immediate. What do you think?

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  6. I snagged my share of raw potatoes as a kid. One of many reasons my kids think I'm a bit strange.

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    1. Potatoes and also uncooked sticks of spaghetti. There was always that delightful crack-crunch.

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    2. How funny you mention uncooked pasta-- that's what I give my kids grief about eating all the time!

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  7. I love this, Diane - so many evocative details, like the chipped bowl.

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    1. Thanks Tara! Twenty-first century germaphobes would have a fit if they ever ate out of a chipped or cracked dish--germs like to lurk! Perhaps 50 years from now, people will write about everyday life and disinfectant wipes.

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  8. This series of haiku could be a picture book! LOVE them!

    This one:

    her back turned
    we snag pieces of
    raw potato

    brought back so many memories:

    her back turned
    on the extras she chopped
    thieves go uncaught


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    Replies
    1. It probably could be a picture book!

      Nice haiku! I'm surprised so many people have the same memory.

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  9. Glad you went the haiku route. Just wonderful, Diane! This was your own recipe? I love corn chowder. I would never have thought of putting shrimp into it. How creative and delicious1

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    1. Not my own recipe! There's a local eatery in the town I work in that makes a wonderful shrimp and corn chowder. I'm determined to make a batch someday soon.

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  10. Diane -- that picture! Your soup looks amazing. I loved the series of haiku. Just like soup -- the poet adds a little bit of each ingredient and winds up with a dish to savor.

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