Skip to main content

Poetry Friday: Things We Eat

My very first Poetry Friday poem was inspired by the fact that my mother taught English as a Foreign Language when I was growing up. Our church ran a free program which allowed my mother, whose dream of being a teacher had to be deferred when she left high school, to finally realize that dream. 

As a teen, I assisted the teacher of the children's class, and one of the highlights of every semester was the potluck dinner. From Poland to Thailand, Guatemala to Vietnam, at every potluck the table was full of the culinary specialities of the many countries our students had come from - side by side in one delicious feast.

I looked forward to my favorites, loading up my plate with delicious flavors and foods that I would never have encountered, were it not for the fact that we had been brought together from many countries to learn and eat. In food, we can celebrate and appreciate our differences, while at the same time being drawn together by the sharing of it.

Food has been on my mind a lot lately, not least because of my participation in the Anthologies 201 course led by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell. From selecting poems to the nuts and bolts of uploading a book for print-on-demand publishing, they gave us a glimpse of the many hats one wears when publishing an anthology. And this week that anthology is out in the world!

Book cover: showing children of many ethnicities eating different foods. Book Title: Things We Eat edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong

Like their previous anthology, Things We Do, this book supports the IBBY Children in Crisis Fund, which provides support for children whose lives have been disrupted through war, civil disorder or natural disaster.  In this moment, with so many children's lives being disrupted by war on a scale not seen in Europe since World War II, I could not be prouder to have a poem in this newest anthology

Things We Eat is a celebration of food, with diverse, inclusive photos and rich back matter that makes it perfect for school and classroom libraries, as well as a fun book for parents, grandparents and caregivers to share with their young foodies. You can find out more about Things We Eat, with buy links, on the Pomelo Books website.

Sylvia and Janet are our hosts for Poetry Friday this week. You'll find pictures of some of their foodie adventures, as well as a smorgasbord of today's yummy poetic goodness, here. And here is my poem from the anthology. 

Bon Apetit! (or as we say where I live, En Guete!)

Picture of a girl choosing yogurt from a store display, with the letter Y on the photo. Poem Title: Yogurt, Poem reads: A rainbow of yogurt.  Which one shall I choose? Each color’s a flavor Red, yellow and blue. Banana and strawberry, Lemon and peach. All creamy and yummy — I’ll take one of each! © Elisabeth Norton, 2022, All Rights Reserved



Comments

  1. I love this well 'cultured' post, Elisabeth! Yogurt is my favorite way to "taste the rainbow". :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations on your Yogurt poem in this (yummy) book! I LOVE the sounds of that potluck dinner, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The international food fair at our school was a big highlight of my childhood; I remember how happy my mother was to be able to do something for the school. Every year she would cook a huge batch of egg foo young or chicken teriyaki, and it would be gobbled up in a minute. I felt so popular and was so proud. Thanks for bringing that memory back to me with the description of your annual church potluck, Elisabeth!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those potluck dinners sound delicious--such happy memories! I love the rainbow of yogurt!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kudos on this rainbow of a poem! Thanks for sharing your foodie background. Life can be a smorgasbord, as we said in our home church!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yum, yogurt!! Enjoyed your poem and hearing about the international potluck. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great poem, Elisabeth! I always end up with more containers of yogurt than I need. The flavors sound so yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, that potluck menu sounds like one I'd loved to have known growing up. I really didn't discover any 'different' thing until I was an adult. I missed a lot, didn't I? And, I do love yogurt, my breakfast favorite every day. Congrats for your poem, Elisabeth!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations on the wonderful poem you created for the Things We Eat Anthology, Elisabeth. As a previous districtwide school director I, along with the ESL teachers, sponsored an international foods night. Our students' were so proud to parade into the room and stand behind their family's contribution. We had such a wonderful array of foods that were available for sampling. Your poem and post remind me of that event. You chose a tasty food to write about, so thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Elisabeth, I just responded and once again my comment flew away. I want to congratulate you for your wonderful poem that highlights a yummy food. It is wonderful that you are one of the poets for the Things We Eat anthology. Your poem reminds me of a past memory when I was a school districtwide director. My ESL teachers and I organized an international food exhibit each year. The K-12 children and their families created food booths for sampling their foods from around the globe along with written projects about their countries. It was always a special event that brought pride and recognition. I am glad that your poem is also being recognized.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Elisabeth, congratulations! I love your YOGURT poem. What a great experience taking the anthology class. I loved your intro too, about the class your mom (and you) taught, and the delicious international potlucks. Lovely post.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ooh... I would love to be part of your international potluck! What a great experience! And such a happy poem about yogurt!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love this poem! I grew up in Thailand and remember being totally overwhelmed by the vast array of choices in the grocery store when we returned.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your poem is wonderful! Congratulations on being included in THINGS WE EAT.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations! What a fantastic review of THINGS WE EAT, and I'm so glad that a poem of mine lives in the same book with yours! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Elisabeth, we have loved getting to know you! Thanks for sharing some of your learning from our work together in your blog post. Keep in touch please!

    ReplyDelete
  17. What fun, Elisabeth! I eat yogurt every day, pretty much...huh. Poetry and yogurt are two of my daily doses of culture--hehehe.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Congrats on the new book, Elisabeth! (I *love* that rainbow!)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ah what a delicious poem Elizabeth, I can taste the creamy flavors from your jaunty lines!
    I enjoyed hearing about the international potluck dinners too, what a treat and adventure, thanks!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments! Comment moderation is active. Your comments will be posted after they have been reviewed. Thank you for your patience!

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Friday: Welcome to the Party!

There is so much happening in our world right now, it can be hard to take it all in. In these times, more than ever, I am grateful for poetry.  Sometimes I write it.  Sometimes I have no words of my own, so I read and reflect on the poetic words of others.  Either way, poetry helps me process my thoughts and feelings about the world and my experiences in it. My poetic offering today is a poem I wrote earlier this spring, on a rare day when my husband had to go to the office for an in-person meeting and I took our usual lunchtime walk alone.  I am a creature of habit, but on that day I challenged myself to break routine and change direction, and this poem was the result. Today I go against the grain, turn left  Instead of right, Let the path take me away from home Instead of towards it. Today I go against the grain, go up the slope I usually walk down. Climbing uses different muscles Than descent. Today I go with the grain, walk downstream Instead of up, Walk with the flow, Instead of a

Poetry Friday: Spooktober

I've been immersed in poetry and verse in the past couple of weeks - first in a Novel in Verse virtual workshop led by the amazing Nikki Grimes and Padma Venkatraman, then in my own work as I dived in deep to apply all the insights and tips that I took away from that experience.  Poems arrived in my inbox this week, via the Academy of American Poets newsletter featuring a selection of poems for Indigenous Peoples' Day.  I particularly loved the poem by Rainy Dawn Ortiz that starts: Something Else. Some one else Some where else That place is here, In my home, We are here. You can read the rest of the poem and learn more about the poet here .  One of the things I love about being a part of Poetry Friday is the inspiration to play with different poetic forms. Thoughts about poetic forms were milling around in my mind when they bumped into Inktober, an annual event in which illustrators create a drawing each day during the month of October. Sparks flew and an idea was born. I searc

Poetry Friday: The Party is Here!

 Welcome everyone to Poetry Friday! If you're new to Poetry Friday, you can read more about it here . I've been chasing deadlines all week, but poetry always provides a welcome pause in the busiest of schedules. Perhaps because of the kind of writing I've been doing (which is not related to poetry at all) it was a bit hard to get started on a poem this week. I looked at a few of the poetic forms I've bookmarked over the past months, but in the end, turned to one of my favorite forms, the acrostic .  Thanks for joining the Poetry Friday party today! Add your link to the party below. You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter