I loved their interesting and amusing conversations. One conversation in particular led me to write this poem. I hope it won't make you queasy.
Shivers
I'm at the dinner table
in need of a reprieve
on my plate is cauliflower
and some peas, which make me heave.
I love to eat these french fries
(see the ketchup on my sleeve?)
but cauliflower gives me shivers
and the peas... just make me heave.
I'm quite a picky eater
many foods cause me to wheeze
but the worst is cauliflower...
unless it's peas. They make me heave.
© Karen Eastlund
I hope you will enjoy the week ahead. The Poetry Friday roundup is at Catherine's today. Join the crowd for further poetry examples, ideas, insights and laughs.
Also, I recently posted another month of my grandmother's diary. August of 1928 gives a glimpse of her busy life on a farm in Iowa. My mother and father are mentioned, Doris & Emil, and my two oldest siblings, Margaret(te) and Marion. Check it out!
Hee-hee! Your poem is a snap-shot of my own childhood, Karen! I am happy to report that I can now stomach peas (but only off the vine or in fried rice!), but still find cauliflower repugnant and 'gives me the shivers' to this day. Thanks for the smile! :)
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes, those tweenagers are fun. I really worried about my youngest picky eater until he hit his TRUE growth spurt about age 13-14. Oh, my gosh...he started to eat everything! And, he became curious about cooking and experimenting with flavor. Next year, he's a HS senior and considering food chemistry for college. Ha! I'll have to show him this poem. He'll get it for sure.
ReplyDeleteHow can we not smile at long-ago food aversions of our own?? I had so many ... once visited my grandparents in the country, ran exuberantly into the house to see them and RIGHT BACK OUT again because Grandma was cooking collards and there's no adequate word for THAT SMELL ... yet I somehow developed a taste, even a love, for collards! I credit my grandfather and his homemade hot pepper vinegar. Wouldn't stay in the room with an onion, either, but as an adult I love them (prompting my incredulous father to ask: "Are you the same child?"). I so enjoyed your fun and too-true poem about young eaters, Karen - I especially love the inclusion of ketchup. My four-year-old granddaughter dips her carrot sticks in it. :O
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since I tried feeding my tweens veggies and it can be quite impossible. I wish knew then that they would grow out of it. I was convinced they were doomed. I enjoy the use of repetition in poems, and adds to the humor here.
ReplyDeleteThat cauliflower pic is beautiful! I was/am a picky eater. Not all veggies are my friends! We watched a documentary a few years back on juicing, and ever since then we drink veggie juice each day. Veggies and water with a lime thrown in to make it palatable. Now I don't waste a minute worrying over the veggies I don't care for. :)
ReplyDeleteThe title is so appropriate! Cute poem, Karen. I like just about everything, vegetable-wise, except green peppers. I didn't like them as a child and I never quite got a taste for them.
ReplyDeleteKaren, you've had some fun and exorcised some demons here. Effective use of a repetitive refrain is most evident too. Personally, I don't mind peas, but I remember how kids on school camps rejected them in alarming numbers. Cauliflower was a vegetable my father grew, so I am quite familiar with them. Have learned to accommodate them as an adult as an occasional food.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha! I grew up as the pickiest eater EVER, and I can SO relate to this, Karen :>)
ReplyDeleteOh, I love the humor in your poem. I had a niece who didn't want to eat anything green (which rules out a lot of vegetables). And the stories that everyone shares are delightful too.
ReplyDeletePeas get a bad rap, I think. I have always loved them, but my husband is in the same camp as your grandchild! Even so, I love your poem. Great word choice and the repetition of that final line is so effective! Are you familiar with singer/storyteller Bill Harley? Your grandchildren will love his song, "There's a Pea on My Plate." (https://www.billharley.com/song-lyrics/theres-a-pea-on-my-plate/) Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteKaren, I finally got around to read more posts. I try to sneak in visits to PF between prospective buyers coming to my house. Your poem is funny. I had aversions to liver during my childhood. I look forward to reading your family heritage post.
ReplyDeleteFun poem Karen, thanks for the smiles :) I like the veggies much more than the french fries… Congrats on your Diary project!
ReplyDelete