The Floral Apron - by
The woman wore a floral apron around her neck,
/ that woman from my mother’s village
/ with a sharp cleaver in her hand.
/ She…
food
Unjust Praise - by
In the beginning
/ The spirit moving
/ Upon the face of the waters
/ And in the breaking waves
/ Tasted salt
/
/ And I see fields of it
/ Drying…
Modern Secrets - by
Last night I dreamt in Chinese.
/ Eating Yankee shredded wheat
/ I said it in English
/ To a friend who answered
/ In monosyllables:
/ All of which…
As the child looks on - by
his mother pulls the linen
/ from the cord.
/ She flaps each sheet,
/ folds each vest.
/ Collars are starched,
/ skirts are dressed.
/ She is spit, she is…
Like a Beacon - by
In London
/ every now and then
/ I get this craving
/ for my mother’s food
/ I leave art galleries
/ in search of plantains
/ saltfish/sweet potatoes
/
/ I need this…
Guid Taste - by
Tae get your juices gaun we’ve
/ the brawest Indian food fur ye.
/ Goan specialities
/ caller oot o Scotland’s seas.
/ King prawns hottered wi…
Blaeberry Mou - by
The flitterin faces come doun the brae
/ And the baskets gowd and green;
/ And nane but a blindie wud speer the day
/ Whaur…
Milk - by
Your custom often
/ when the house was still
/
/ to brew milky coffee
/ and reminisce.
/
/ Child care experts would have frowned
/ on my late hours,
/
/ The bitter…
from A hyakuin renga in summer - by
shrivelled little figs
/ that never made it
/ to the table
/
/ swirling a late cup of milky tea
/ what she’d like…
A Child’s Calendar of Feasts - by
September
/ Peel some hazelnuts while they’re still green. Our grapes can hang another day.
/
/ October
/ Take these walnuts next door. Tell them we…
The Picnic - by
In a little rainy mist of white and grey
we sat under an old tree,
drank tea toasts to the powdery mountain,
undrunk got merry, played catch
with the empty flask
Grandpa’s Soup - by
No one makes soup like my Grandpa’s,
/ with its diced carrots the perfect size
/ and its diced potatoes the perfect size
/ and its…