Saturday, June 4, 2011

Weekend "Poem In Your Post" Blog Hop

You Can't Write A Poem About McDonalds

Noon. Hunger the only thing
singing in my belly.
I walk through the blossoming cherry trees
on the library mall,
past the young couples coupling,
by the crazy fanatic
screaming doom and salvation
at a sensation-hungry crowd,
to the Lake Street McDonald's.
It is crowded, the lines long and sluggish.
I wait in the greasy air.
All around me people are eating—
the sizzle of conversation,
the salty odor of sweat,
the warm flesh pressing out of
hip huggers and halter tops.
When I finally reach the cash register,
the counter girl is crisp as a pickle,
her fingers thin as french fries,
her face brown as a bun.
Suddenly I understand cannibalism.
As I reach for her,
she breaks into pieces
wrapped neat and packaged for take-out.
I'm thinking, how amazing it is
to live in this country, how easy
it is to be filled.
We leave together, her warm aroma
close at my side.
I walk back through the cherry trees
blossoming up into pies,
the young couples frying in
the hot, oily sun,
the crowd eating up the fanatic,
singing, my ear, eye, and tongue
fat with the wonder
of this hungry world.  
                 
                            - Ronald Wallace

What else can't you write a poem about?  Brainstorm a list.  Then write a few poems... :-)

If you're just joining us for the first time, you can post a poem about anything at all (yours or someone else's) then link your post back to this one so those who visit your blog can find us and in turn visit the poem-rich bloggers contributing here.   (Just like any other meme, really.)

Stuck for a focus?  How about posting a poem on an unlikely topic?  One of my favorites is Mary Oliver's poem about a toad.  And then there's the Wallace one above.  And the one I wrote about hobo spiders that works pretty well, if I do say so myself.  So, you get the picture...



As always, please support the poets who change us - and our perception of our world - with their art.

MFB,
L

p.s.  For more information about Ronald Wallace and for more of his poems, try: http://mendota.english.wisc.edu/~WALLACE/poems.html#top

14 comments:

@parridhlantern said...

A blade of Grass.
YOU ASK for a poem.
I offer you a blade of grass.
You say it is not good enough.
You ask for a poem.

I say this blade of grass will do.
It has dressed itself in frost,
It is more immediate
Than any image of my making.

You say it is not a poem,
It is a,blade of grass and grass
is not quite good enough.
I offer you a blade of grass.

You are indignant.
You say it is to easy to offer grass.
It is absurd.
Anyone can offer a blade of grass.

You ask for a poem.
And so I write a tragedy about
How a blade of grass
Becomes more and more difficult to offer,

And about how as you grow older
A blade of grass
Becomes more difficult to accept.

Brian Patten.

Ps, if you're on twitter, follow @pomesallsizes (spelt as is written) for a poem a day . Thanks

Sidne said...

two all beef
special sauce
lettuce chesse
and a sesame seed bun, lol.
i shall post one of someone else

shah said...

New follower - new to your sight too! Do pop by and read my tiny poem. You could link up this blog on my blog hop too if you like. It's for creative bloggers. Either way, have a great weekend.

Shah from wordsinsync.blogspot.com

X

Shah Wharton said...

Oh and thanks for introducing me to Wallace! ;D Shah. X

Anonymous said...

LOVE this poem--what a great writing exercise it would make for students too! My post is scheduled to go up tomorrow I think, but I'll try and bump it up soon.

Unknown said...

That is a great poem, and I think I'll work on that exercise you suggested later. In the mean time, I have posted I poem I wrote a few months ago.

Unknown said...

Also, I really like that poem by the first commenter too!!!

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Coreena, It's from a collection of Poems called Love Poems-Brian Patten.

Laurie said...

What a joy to wake up to all these fine poems and comments! Thank you, one and all, and let's keep the proverbial ball rolling, shall we?
P - As always, you have chosen a stunning poem for us. Thank you.
S - Hah!
C - Thanks so much for your wonderful contributions here and for your poems.
Shah - Welcome! Indeed, I'll link..
J - So glad to see you back, and no worries about when to post: I extended the hop to the whole weekend to make it more laid-back, so poets can post either day and still delight us with their finds or creations...
L

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

What a surreal experience! It doesn't describe any of my visits to McDonalds--but I'm not about to write my own poem about that. =P

Laurie, thanks for asking about Word & Question. I moved the start date to 8 June, but you can submit your prompts as early as you like. Here is my e-mail address:

altaemoeniaRomae
[at]
Gmail
[dot]
com

Laurie said...

Ah: I dig, Ms. E. Thanks so much for the clarification, and I too will never see Mc-ie D's in the same way again...

Birdie said...

Laurie--This is really fun! I mean, kinda gross in the way McDonald's is kind of gross, but definitely something I never would have thought of as "poetic material". Thanks for expanding my horizons.

Laurie said...

I know: it's kinda creepy how the narrator deconstructs the cashier into her pieces and parts, but I think that's the poet's point: McDonalds takes animals apart and sells them in the same way that the narrator takes the cashier apart to "devour" her. It's a consumer society...
Pretty edgy stuff.

Thank You Flowers said...

I am now totally hungry craving a maccy D's!!!!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...