friday feast: poetry friday roundup is here (and it’s smokin’)!

“Apple Dumplings” by George Dunlop Leslie (1835-1921).

Happy Poetry Friday!

Heartfelt Congratulations to J. Patrick Lewis, our new Children’s Poet Laureate!

Welcome, All. So glad you’re here — there’s some HOT STUFF going on in the alphabet soup kitchen today. We’re peeling a few apples, rolling out a little dough and celebrating girl power (gentlemen, brace yourselves). ☺

Before we proceed any further, please put on a couple of these oven mitts; you may need them to handle today’s poem.

Alright. Remember when I said that women seem to have the market cornered when it comes to writing about the sensuality of food? Combine that with sassy powers of seduction and you’ve pretty much slayed the soufflé. Sue Staats really knows how to bring it and she doesn’t believe in taking any prisoners. “Come, come into my kitchen if you dare,” she seems to say. Hotcha-cha and Va-va-voom!

(You’ve got your oven mitts on, right? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

COOKIN’ IT
by Sue Staats

Oh yeah, I’ll make you a man in my kitchen
buckle your blueberries, slump your apples,
cream your butter and sugar,
knead your dough,
steam your windows with my oven heat.

Bet your life I’ll poach your pears,
pickle your persimmons, foster your bananas,
cobble your peaches, marmalade your oranges
clafouti your cherries to a parlez-vous

You’ll be cross-eyed, crumb-topped
crimped, crisped, crusted, folded,
punched, proofed and risen before I’m done.

Get over here now.
My pan dowdy’s hot, and there’s cream.

Don’t keep me waiting.

Cherry and Almond Clafoutis by Pinot & Dita/flickr

*fans self*

Is it hot in here or is it just me? Nothing sexier than a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. (Oh my, Jama says demurely, my Jello’s still jiggling after that one.) ☺

Now, once you’ve cooled down, please leave your links with Mr. Linky below. Don’t forget to put the title of your poem or the book you’re reviewing in parentheses after your name.

TODAY’S POETRY FRIDAY MENU (nibble, crunch, chew):

1. Charles Ghigna (“Wild Flowers”)
2. Rasco from RIF (Monday is One Day)
3. Julie (Links to J. Patrick Lewis poetry)
4. Diane Mayr (Massachusetts Poetry Festival)
5. Kurious Kitty (“Why I Am Not a Painter”)
6. KK’s Kwotes quote by Salvador Dali
7. Janet (“The Peace of Wild Things”)
8. Amy @ Hope is the Word (Scranimals by Prelutsky Art Activity)
9. A Fuse #8 Production (Lemonade by Bob Raczka)
10. Heidi Mordhorst (Thomas Lux’s “The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently”)
11. Debbie Diller (“Wind on the Hill”)
12. The Stenhouse Blog (“To David, About His Education”)
13. Robyn Hood Black (Book Spine Poem, Writing with Mrs. Mirabel)
14. Alice@Supratentorial (A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes)
15. Liz in Ink (Children’s Poet Laureates)
16. Katie @ Secrets and Sharing Soda (Judy Scuppernong)
17. Elaine@Wild Rose Reader (Two eel poems)
18. Tabatha (Being Civilized)
19. Ruth (J. Patrick Lewis)
20. Books4Learning (Pocketful of Posies)
21. Barbara Etlin (Stevie Wonder’s Sunshine)
22. Great Kid Books (The Great Migration)
23. April Halprin Wayland (“The Ubbery Tree”)
24. Mary Lee (Hooray for J. Patrick Lewis)
25. Janet Squires (Dutch Sneakers and Flea Keepers)

Thanks for joining us today. What’ll you be cookin’ in your kitchen tonight? If you’re hungry for an encore, click here to hear Sue read “Cookin’ It,” which was featured as a 2011 Alimentum Menupoem.

Apple Dumpling by fayettevilleflyer/flickr

Oh, don’t forget to eat your dumpling ☺!

*Oven mitts by the_red_deer/flickr.
**ABC fruit by craig.stanford/flickr.
***Blueberry Cheese Coffee Cake by TheCookingPhotographer.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan’s alphabet soup. All rights reserved.