This topic brought back many memories for the group, especially of childhood meals. What do you most remember eating when you were growing up?
We began with a poem by the poet, educator, and memoirist Toi Derricotte, called ‘My dad & sardines’. The lines describing a memory of a father eating particularly resonated:
[…] i can’t get into
my dad’s old heart, but i remember that look
on his face when he would
load mustard on a saltine cracker, lay a little
fish on top, & tip it with a juicy slice
of onion
You can read the complete poem here.
Our second text focused on the power and symbolism of the kitchen table. ‘Perhaps the World Ends Here’ is a poem by Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. It begins with the line: ‘The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.’ You can read the poem or hear Joy herself speak its lines here.
Finally we read the short but beautifully nuanced and compassionate ‘The Bean Eaters’ by the American poet, author and teacher, Gwendolyn Brook, published in 1963.
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