mango

Welcome to Poetry Friday at Alphabet Soup!

I must say you’re even more good looking today than you were last week. How is that even possible?!

I see by the twinkle in your eye that you’re hungry for good words and good food. You’ve definitely come to the right place. Please help yourself to some freshly brewed Kona coffee and homemade mango bread. 🙂

♥ TODAY’S POEM ♥

Actually, I’m on a mango kick this week. I reviewed the breathtakingly beautiful Moon Mangoes the other day, and today I’m sharing Lesléa Newman’s mouthwatering “Mangoes” from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School, compiled by poetry goddesses Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong (Pomelo Books, 2013).

Though I’m ~~a tad~~ extremely partial to Week 10 (Food) and Week 11 (More Food) in the anthology, I was thrilled when Lesléa’s poem appeared as a delicious surprise in Week 31 (Different Forms) for Seventh Grade (page 165).

“Mangoes” is a ghazal, an Arabic lyric poem that incorporates the repetition of the same ending word in each couplet. When it comes to mangoes, Lesléa is a poet after my own heart, for her chosen end word is “heaven.” What better way to describe that luscious golden fruit personifying the sun-drenched days of summer?

Peel it back, cutie pies, and let those juices drip down your chin.

woman-with-a-mango-1892.jpg!Blog — “Woman with a Mango” by Paul Gauguin (1892)

MANGOES
by Lesléa Newman

I’ve got to know before I go,
do mangoes grow in heaven?

Without that treat that tastes so sweet
don’t want no seat in heaven.

If there ain’t none — at least a ton —
won’t be no fun in heaven.

If they substitute another fruit
I’ll give the boot to heaven.

A mango a day like the good doctor say
and I’ll make my way to heaven.

Will a mango slide through my fingers and glide
down my throat as I float up to heaven?

Now say for real, are there mangoes to steal
and peel on the way up to heaven?

If you say no, Lesléa won’t go —
no mangoes isn’t heaven!

“Mangoes” copyright © 2013 by Lesléa Newman. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd.

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♥ THE ROUNDUP ♥

Please leave your links with the fun-loving Mr. Linky below. Don’t forget to include the title of your poem or the book you’re reviewing in parentheses after your name. I will add your links manually to this post throughout the day.

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– – – Today’s Poetry Friday Platter – – –

1. Steven Withrow (“First Saddle Sonnet”)

2. Cathy Ballou Mealey (Fernalicious Forest Fun)

3. Matt Forrest Esenwine @ Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme (“Book Report”)

4. Bridget Magee (Driving Mom Crazy)

5. Margaret Simon (“What If?” – Saying Goodbye to a Special Student)

6. Jeff @ NC Teacher Stuff (“The Song of the Ungirt Runners”)

7. Robyn Hood Black (Early 19th Century Limericks for Children)

8. Michelle @ Today’s Little Ditty (Losing my keys — and my marbles)

9. Iphigene @ Gathering Books (“You Are a Writer”)

10. Amy LV @ Poem Farm (New Puppies and Third Grade Poets)

11. No Water River (Poetry Comics Poe’s “Annabel Lee” Poetry Video)

12. Tara @ A Teaching Life (Monsoon Season and Mary Oliver)

13. Colette Marie Bennett (“Here Bullet”)

14. Charles Ghigna/Father Goose (“Peach Dreams”)

15. Karin Fisher-Golton (“Butterfly”)

16. Samuel Kent (“Last Day of Second Grade”)

17. Tabatha (Yahia Lababidi)

18. Catherine @ Reading to the Core (“Love Calls Us to the Things of This World”)

19. Mary Lee (Think for Yourself)

20. Laura Purdie Salas (“You’d Better Be Scared” – with audio poem starter)

21. Heidi Mordhorst (Circular thoughts on time travel)

22. Penny Klostermann (two fiddlehead fern poems)

23. Diane Mayr (“Cultivation”)

24. Kurious Kitty (It’s International Tiara Day!)

25. Carol @ Carol’s Corner (Something Fishy)

26. Donna @ Mainely Write (Double Take)

27. Doraine Bennett (Words with Madeleine L’Engle)

28. Tamera Will Wissinger (Marion Dane Bauer essay on Resonance in Verse Novels)

29. MotherReader (Follow, Follow).

30. Liz Steinglass (A poetry retreat and a question)

31. Anastasia Suen (“Not What We Want”)

32. Little Willow (“Locations and Times” by Walt Whitman)

33. Jeannine Atkins (Tugs That Carry Writers Through)

34. Ed DeCaria (MMPoetry authlete Cheryl Lawton Malone in the Boston Globe)

35. Lorie Ann Grover (“Wedding White”)

36. Joy Acey (“Wheels on the Road”)

37. Janet Squires (Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant)

38. Dia Calhoun (“Hammock Queen”)

39. Iza Trapani (“Saving Pennies”)

40. Betsy H. (“Silent Thunder” and new poetry blog!)

41. Jone @ Check It Out (“Library Books”)

42. M. M. Socks (“Teacher”)

43. Karen Edmisten (Linda Pastan)

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♥ THE RECIPE ♥

Trust me, you need to make this mango bread sometime soon. It’s super moist, not overly sweet (golden raisins!), and is even better the next day.

The recipe calls for diced mango, but I put mine in the food processor because I like even distribution of fruit in my bread. Since my mangoes were medium ripe, the consistency was sort of like grated carrots. Choice of nuts is up to you — unsalted macadamias are divine and add a nice Hawaiian flavor. 🙂

Mmmm Good Mango Bread
(makes one loaf)

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups diced mango
1/4 cup flaked coconut (optional)