Glossy green guinepas, spiny red lychee fruit and bags of salty, dried Chinese plums greeted my gaze as paper rustled under
the Chinaman’s tobacco-stained fingers while he watched me move from leg to leg, restless to taste of his garden's bounty.
Mangos from a neighbor’s tree, chayote
salted and buttered from the stove, thick tuberous yucca fried golden, plates
of chicken and rice cooked with capers, olives, tomatoes and spices in a cast
iron pot or empanadas swollen with seasoned meat, the baked dough warm against
my hand, a side of Maggi's waiting on the plate.
Kids on the steamy sidewalk, calling to
El hombre raspado, his hands filling
paper cones of shaved ice and syrups, sticky sweet against my child's lips.
Caramel-skinned and sweaty
His short-sleeved rolled up white shirt
Gleaming, along with his smile,
in the afternoon's heat.
Some of you requested"the rest of" the previous effort. The original from which it sprang is sadly no more. As with most creative endeavors, things sometimes take on a life of their own and shift in ways I don't always anticipate. I hope you enjoy this and I appreciate your comments.
Some of you requested"the rest of" the previous effort. The original from which it sprang is sadly no more. As with most creative endeavors, things sometimes take on a life of their own and shift in ways I don't always anticipate. I hope you enjoy this and I appreciate your comments.
14 comments:
I very much enjoyed this post. You have a great way with words.
Happy New Week - catch ya' next weekend. Cheers and boogie boogie.
Thank you and best of luck with your cooking and de=cluttering!
You do indeed have a way with words. The meanings, the evocative sound and the texture of them. Thank you.
A question though. Carmel-skinned? Caramel or a usage I don't know?
oops...probably a typo...thanks.
Fixed now...thanks!
I think telling anyone they need to edit poetry is just wrong. It comes from within and you can't edit that.
You are a gifted writer. xo
I like the moles you have as your headers...
The ambience of your poem really talks to me: it would have done before, but now I live among that of which you speak I can see it.
Our raspado man died this month....dear old boy, no one will take his place.
Love your writing. The colours and the taste. And for the interest: I had both Carmel and caramel in my lexicon. Carmel was a much harder version of the fudge soft caramel. LOL
XO
WWW
Thanks for you kind comments. I'm sorry your raspado man has died. I find it is difficult to explain these things to people so it is nice to know my images come across.
That is very interesting...which would you choose for this? Thanks for your interest. Hope all is well with you.
I am certainly glad to see that you brought forward the second part of this memoir poem. I fits so well as bridge between the first and the last thought, (whichever that may be), transitions or arcs when well done are wonderful. Yours, e, is well done. I love the precise imagery you present.
"Lost" originals? *meh* I have lost or left behind ten times more of my writing than I thus far archived. Only the writing gets set aside not the thoughts/conditions that propel it.
I can almost feel the heat, taste the food in that one.
Thanks. I worked on flowers today. But over the weekend, we got a few holes fixed inside the trailer. Happy Summer.
This is fantastic! Those people who didn't like it didn't know what they were talking about. You found so many good and evocative details, the shirt and smile both gleaming in the heat, the feel of that sticky sweet shaved ice...
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