friday feast: two smooth talkers, a chunky hunk, and a hot salsa mama

~ jama

Welcome to our Peanut Butter Poets Party!

Every Poetry Friday in November, we’re serving up creamy crunchy chewy peanut butter poems written by some of our favorite nut cases children’s poets and friends.

Today’s menu features four good-looking but sticky poets: Charles Ghigna, Matt Forrest Esenwine, David L. Harrison and Marilyn Singer.

The guys all love peanut butter but Marilyn doesn’t (gasp!). Don’t worry — what she doesn’t eat, she makes up for with fancy footwork and sassy swaying to that crazy Latin beat.

I call Charles and Matt the Peter Pan twins; they’re both into creamy and are oh-so-smooth with their rhythm and rhyme (get a grip; they may slide off your screen). David calls himself a “Jiffy chunky man.” See what happens when you have a choosy mom? You grow up to be a chunky hunk who knows how to cowboy up. I wonder if he’s found his elusive jelly yet?

Enjoy Our Daily Spread. Okay to read aloud with your mouth full.

* * * * *

♥ CHARLES GHIGNA ♥

He writes in a treehouse, shares his peanut butter with the birds, and plays hard to get. Just a boy in Neverland.

PEANUT BUTTER PINE CONES

Peanut butter pine cones
Hanging from the trees;
We roll them in the birdseed
And hang them in the breeze.

We watch our little feathered friends
Picnic in the sun.
They chatter Thank you!  Thank you!
For their peanut butter fun!

© 2012 Charles Ghigna. All rights reserved.

* * * * *

PEANUT BUTTER BOY

Mother made me toast today.
I said I didn’t want it,
That is until she put a lot
Of peanut butter on it.

Mother served me crackers with
A glass of milk tonight.
She spread on peanut butter,
Then I finally took a bite.

Mother made me broccoli.
I wouldn’t touch the stuff.
She dipped on peanut butter
And I couldn’t get enough!

© 2012 Charles Ghigna. All rights reserved.

Charles Ghigna’s Official Website
Father Goose Blog
Bald Ego
Snickers

* * * * *

♥ MATT FORREST ESENWINE ♥

“Charles Ghigna and I know a good PB when we see one – I’ve loved Peter Pan PB since I was knee-high to nuthin’.”

ODE TO PEANUT BUTTER

I love when you’re creamy
So smooth and so fine,
Or when you are chunky –
I‘m glad you’re all mine.

I love how you’re salty
A little bit sweet
So richly delicious,
A wonderful treat!

I love you on crackers
I love you on bread
I love you with breakfast
And right before bed.

There’s only one small thing
I’m not keen about…
Da way dat you thtick
To da woof of my mouf.

© 2012, Matt Forrest Esenwine. All rights reserved.

Radio, Rhythm, & Rhyme

 

 

* * * * *

* * * * *

♥ DAVID L. HARRISON ♥

Peanut butter by default? Oh, twist, twist my arm!

(click for Grape Jelly recipe)

IN SEARCH OF JELLY

Now and then
I yearn to spread
Some yummy jelly
On my bread,
But every jelly
Jar I find
Is full of something
Else instead.

Who knows what
The contents are?
This one looks
Like greenish tar,
This one says
It’s made from grapes
But smells like something
Worse by far.

Here’s some moldy
Barbeque,
Here’s some gravy
Turned to glue,
This, I think,
Was bacon grease,
Here’s a jar
Of fuzzy goo.

No matter how
I fuss and mutter
In search of jelly
In this clutter
There’s nothing here
To spread on bread,
So once again,
It’s peanut butter.

~ from THE ALLIGATOR IN THE CLOSET (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press, 2003).

© 2003 David L. Harrison. All rights reserved.

David L. Harrison’s Official Website
David L. Harrison’s Blog

* * * * *

♥ MARILYN SINGER ♥

She may not be a peanut butter fan, but she’s HOT! Watch out, my furry little whiskered friends!

 

(Untitled)

Some people like to go on a peanut butter bender.
But I’d rather dance to that tune, “The Peanut Vendor,”
to feel those Cuban rhythms and salsa ’round my house,
and use that tasty stuff instead to catch a pesky mouse.

© 2012 Marilyn Singer. All rights reserved.

 

Marilyn Singer’s Official Website

* * * * *

So what’s Marilyn dancing to?

Here’s, “El Manisero/The Peanut Vendor,” probably the most famous piece of music ever written by a Cuban musician (Moises Simon). The biggest record sales for El Manisero came from this recording made by Don Azpiazú and his Havana Casino Orchestra (New York, 1930). The lyrics were in a style based on street vendors’ cries, a pregón. The record caused rumba mania in the U.S. Lead singer here is Antonio Machin. Bet you can’t sit still. Toss me a hot peanut! Mani!

* * * * *

THE PEANUT VENDOR
(excerpt from English lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Marion Sunshine)

In Cuba, each merry maid
Wakes up with this serenade
Peanuts! They’re nice and hot
Peanuts! I sell alot

If you haven’t got bananas, don’t be blue
Peanuts in a little bag are calling you
Don’t waste them, no tummy ache
You’ll taste them when you awake

For at the very break of day
The peanut vendor’s on his way
At dawning that whistle blows
Through ev’ry city, town, and country lane

You’ll hear him sing his plaintive little strain
And as he goes by to you he’ll say:
“Big jumbos, big double ones
Come buy those peanuts roasted today
Come try those freshly roasted today!”

If you’re looking for a moral to this song
Fifty million little monkeys can’t be wrong

* * * * *

On that note, why not salsa over to Think Kid, Think!, where Ed DeCaria is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup? Wonder what he’d do if fifty million monkeys visited him? Meanwhile, there’s still lots of time to send in a peanut butter poem. A big thanks to Charles, Matt, David and Marilyn for their nutty offerings this week! 🙂

♥ ♥ ♥ DON’T FORGET TO SPREAD THE LOVE ♥ ♥ ♥

NUTS TO YOU!

**Visit PeanutButterLovers.com for more info and recipes.

—————————————–

Copyright © 2012 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

47 thoughts on “friday feast: two smooth talkers, a chunky hunk, and a hot salsa mama”

    1. This is an awesome series, Jama. There are very few things that kids all have in common, but peanut butter has got to be in the top 5!

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  2. Enjoying listening to the song 🙂 Now I want to make a peanut butter birdseed pinecone for my feathery friends. I feel sorry for David Harrison’s pantry! Dang. At least he has some peanut butter!

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    1. Yes, David has quite a pantry . . . and quite a collection of jelly jars. I’m also going to make some PB pinecones this winter. Hoping the birds get some of it before the squirrels take over.

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  4. Hi, Jama. The finale of Matt’s poem reminded me, when my husband was younger he used to put peanut butter on the roof of his dog’s mouth. Nothing funnier than a dog who looks like she’s trying to talk!

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    1. By “younger,” do you mean when he was a child or as an adult? Either way, who’d have thought of doing that? Must have been so funny! 🙂

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  5. What a buncha sticky goodness over here today! These poems are wonderfully nutty!

    Oh, and I got some PB. The only brand available here is Calve’ – it’s very dense and kind of dark, but yummy. Having PB&J sammiches before chorus tonight – should make singing an operetta sooo much easier!

    (Working on a PB poem for you, too.)

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    1. Glad to hear you found some PB! Calvé — Italian brand?

      So, you will sing a nutty operetta tonight? Perfect way to spread the love. Bellissimo! 🙂

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  8. PB & pine cones…what a memory from when I was a kid growing up in the New Hampshire woods. After Christmas, we’d stick the tree outside in a snowbank and re-decorate it with popcorn, cranberries, and the PB pinecones. Of course, I still live in the New Hampshire woods…so perhaps I need to restart that tradition! Loved David’s and Marilyn’s poems, too…such diverse images from something so simple. Methinks a PB anthology might be fun!

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    1. Yes, I definitely think you should restart that tradition!

      I’m also finding it very interesting to see all the different takes on PB, and I’m hearing about some new-to-me brands. A PB anthology would definitely be delish — the cover would be a big slice of bread of course. 🙂

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  9. Jama, you are the best food & poetry blogger in the universe! No one does peanut butter any better! Seriously, your blog is a cozy little respite, a delicious oasis of inspiration and good cheer. Thank you for being there. And here. Debra sends her love too.

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    1. Aw, thanks for the kind words, Charles. My job is made easier and much more fun when I have good poetry to work with — and children’s poets are unfailingly generous. I’ll excuse the misspelling of your name since you’re eating PB :).

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  12. It’s so wonderful to see Poetry Friday friends up here in your blogpost, Jama, crooning to the tune of peanut butter in their poems. I lovelovelove peanut butter! Now I’m craving for my usual combo: peanutbutter/nutella-chocolate waffle in one of our favorite places here in Singapore. Will wolf down a huge bite and think of you. 🙂

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    1. Sorry, I hit publish before I was finished. Thanks every poet for all the great poems & Jama, you just make me happy every time I read your post. This time, “peanut butter taste I love so true, nothing else will ever do”. Yum!

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    1. Me too — I’m still wondering why there are so many peanut allergies with today’s kids. I don’t remember it being so prevalent (or even existent) when I was growing up.

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  15. Wow what a fun, fun post and great photos and ads. I’m going to have to spend some time reading the poems.

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  16. Pingback: 2012 Poetry Friday Archive « Jama's Alphabet Soup

  17. An extra yummy post this week, Jama! Thanks to Father Goose, Matt, David, and Marilyn for their sticky contributions. And now I’m craving Myra’s “peanutbutter/nutella-chocolate waffle” too.

    I’ll feed my Muse some Peter Pan today and see if she has any more PB poems up her flowing sleeve….

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  18. Wow, Jama, my stomach is growling, my mouth is watering and I feel like dancing. Look out peanut butter…here I come. Delicious, delightful poems. And I need to gather some pinecones for my feathered friends.

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  19. I am yearning now to find a jar of peanut butter, a spoon, and have at the delicious experience. Thanks for these delicious poems, Jama!

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  23. Pingback: friday feast: the big cheese | Jama's Alphabet Soup

  24. Thanks, Jama, for another delicious gem! Now I’m on my whey now over to your new cheese blog where you have taken us all a-whey with your incredible edible curds!

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