Donner's "How do you run away from the things in your head?" Thread

[senia]

Your first struck home. I liked the specificity of the daughter's things and might want even more (I'm nosey) I feel like I've been going through tubs and boxes of memories forever so your quote got me good. I might borrow it maybe? Anyhow, your soup's made me hungry. It's a pleasure to read your poems again, Donna.

Best,
Annie

[cookala]

heya Donna! Ham and Bean Soup is yummy, and layered with tasty bits. (I imagine the soup itself is, too). fun observations in this piece. enjoyed! (and now I want soup!!)

[Scrow]

What works so well about 'Ham and Bean soup' for me is that it's a little bit interactive. As a poem it works, yes, but also, and guiltily…I want to know the recipe...

I don't know if that's your intention - to draw the reader in to the extent that they, too are culpable and part of the picture you draw - but it does that with me. I have been persuaded, on occasion, to 'help out' (my Mother) at church fundraiser dinners and so perhaps despite cross-contintental cultural divides, the resonance of a particular persons signature 'dish' is something that travels.

[Donner]

Geoff, Annie, cookie and Sarah - Thanks so much for reading and commenting. Annie - Also in the going-to-Portland soon pile is the dollhouse her grandmothers made, two boxes of dollhouse furnishings and her rainbow afghan. Sarah - Just for you, my Ham and Bean Soup recipe:

1 package 16-bean (or whatever number of them) soup mix
8 c chicken broth/stock (use more or less stock, depending on how much soup you want)
1 meaty ham hock, cooked
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 diced onion
1 c diced carrots
1/2 c diced celery
1 tsp chopped garlic
garlic powder (to taste)
pepper (to taste)

Soak beans overnight. Rinse, then put in large pot with stock, ham hock, tomatoes, onions, chopped garlic, garlic powder and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered until beans are done, 1 1/2-2 hours. Remove ham hock and cut off ham into bite-sized pieces; return to pot along with carrots and celery. Simmer another hour or until vegetables are done. (This recipe also works well in a crock pot. Add all ingredients and cook on low for about 8 hours.)

[Donner]

Enlightenment

While most of my group talk
grandkids and swap photos
of their Sophias and Christophers,
Mykaelas and Jacobs, I share
the latest about her Huck and Molly

and now Prudence,
shelter-adopted just yesterday.
I'm not sure who looks happier,
my daughter or the dog.
I hope she looks half as joyful
when she finally realizes
that kids don't come box-trained
or sit or stay on command.

[W.G.McLeod]

I'm drawn to Making Ham Soup. There's inside battles in the soup supper kitchens at my church. Quiet civil battles but just as intense. Who's soup will run out first clearly making their most delicious. It's an interesting dynamic during Lent and Holy week. Happy Good Friday by the way.

Prudence is a cutie! (Yeah and so is Molly.)

[delph_ambi]

Delightfully accessible poems. Enjoyed them all.

[Donner]

Thanks, Wendy and Catherine. While I try to remain enigmatic, I like my poems to be accessible.

Prudence is a cutie! (Yeah and so is Molly.)

Oops. That's Sarah, my daughter, with Prudence. I added the possessive "her" before "Huck and Molly" - Molly is my daughter's cat. She's cute, too, though. Heh.

[prooftheory]

Well we don't really know whether you want grandchildren or not and I guess that is the point. Nice poems.

[Scrow]

Oh, thank-you! I read the soup recipe whilst cooking tea, and, as I thought, it's perfect. Not too expensive, filling, sounds like it will be lovely to eat, and…best of all…easy. You do know that I will now embracing 'gluttony' rather than 'covetousness', don't you? But, quite seriously, I'll be cooking that, and you will be credited. Let's see how it goes down at a Church Hall 'dinner'. I think the next one is September (they do teas during the summer - with scones, jam and cream, sometimes meringues if we're lucky). Oh dear, my mother might faint if I actually cook something for her.

It's the names I like most about 'Enlightenment'. For me 'Huck' is always going to be 'Huckleberry Finn', and Molly 'Milly-molly-mandy' (the last is probably UK). Either way, they're simple names, whereas the 'friends' names are all just a little bit….saying something. I also like the line 'I'm not sure who looks happier/my daughter or the dog', which places the sentiment of the piece exactly where it should be.

Sarah

[Angela]

Donner,

I have a lot of my kids old school projects, homemade Mother's day cards and etc boxed up in my closet. My son is 19 and I am not looking forward to the day when he finishes school and moves out. The practicality of ceremony touched me with that empty nest feeling.

Ha! I was totally gonna ask you for the recipe! C&P'd that thing so fast!! I love ham and bean soup and your poem, too. (church ladies can be fierce when trying to one up someone with a prized recipe!) I usually just buy a can, but I think I am gonna fill my crock this weekend. Soup is good poetry writing fuel!

Enlightenment: Furry kids are people, too!!!

PS: Sorry it took me 3 days to get here. I made my spreadsheet and I am confidently covering some ground now. Thank you for the tips!!

Angela~

[kristalynn]

I like the Sophias and Christophers and Mykaelas and Jacobs in Enlightenment. And the tax collectors and sinners in the Ham and Bean Soup poem.

[Alexandrite]

Love "Enlightenment"--- I'm blessed with grandbabies from one, and grandpuppies from another--- my dilemma is to gush & spoil equally--- which
reminds me, the Easter Bunny needs to visit Pet Smart. Very noble pomes Ms. Donner.

[Donner]

Proof - I tread lightly regarding that topic. Heh.

Sarah - You're welcome! The recipe is the one on the back of the bag of soup beans doctored for my personal taste. Easy peasy. And my daughter's cat, Huck, was named after Huckleberry Finn, and he's just as adventurous.

Angela - When my mom passed away, I got back every card I'd ever given her along with gifts and photos of my kids. She kept a file folder for each of us, so the cycle completed itself. (Let me know how the soup turns out. )

Andrea - Thanks so much.

Alex - Huck and Molly get Christmas presents along with the kids and now so will Prudence.

Thanks, everyone. You make NaPo fun.

* * * * *

Inspiration for today's poem came from standing in the grocery store yesterday, looking for a particular salad dressing for my pasta salad. Really.

[Donner]

On this day

September 26, 2008 was a Friday, the 269th day of that year,
when Paul Newman, American actor, director, producer
and businessman, co-founder of Newman's Own (b. 1925) died.
The news also reported that
......the GOP derailed the Wall Street bailout deal
......and the Feds seized Washington Mutual
......in the largest bank failure in US history, while
......protesters hit the streets over the bailout and
......Al Gore called for civil disobedience
......against carbon-spewing coal plants.
......Bush hosted Abbas at the White House,
......a Senate panel held testimony on US torture
......and East Timorese President Ramos-Horta called
......for an end to the US embargo of Cuba
......while a mentally handicapped man fell to his death
......after a police tasering and the State
......of Louisiana was given a deadline
......on jailed ex-Black Panther Albert Woodfox.
......Beer Pong was declared a sport
......when more than 100 contestants (forming 62 two-person teams)
......showed up to vie for a shot at winning the entry fees
......for the World Series of Beer Pong IV,
......slated for Jan. 1-5 at the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas,
......while the Yankees beat the Red Sox
......19-8 before a Fenway Park crowd of 37,301
......and Lance Armstrong announced after a three-year absence
......that he would ride in America's biggest cycling stage race,
......the Amgen Tour of California.
......Meanwhile in Namibia, a 1500's Portugese shipwreck was found
......at the site of Namibian diamond mine. Archaeologists
......marked the discovery as one of the most important finds
......in Africa in recent history
......while the European Union banned imports
......of baby food containing Chinese milk
......and Mattel's Elmo Live, with a price tag of about $70,
......may be among the bestsellers for the holiday shopping season,
......according to the trade journal Toy Insider.
Newman also missed the account that Friday of Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy
becoming the first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing
across the English Channel, but he still continues to donate to charity
and still joins us for dinner on occasion. He likes salad.

* * * * *

References taken from:
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/26
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/september26th.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_26
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/26/headlines
http://www.newmansown.com/

4-4-2015