When I read Jane Kenyon's poem Potato, I was instantly reminded of a poem I wrote about going potato picking with my Dad as a youth. While both poems concern potatoes, they address the subject in quite different ways.
Potatoes alone might not appear to be an overtly popular subject for writing poetry. However, it is a challenge for all writers to inject interest into topics and ideas previously considered mundane or pedestrian and celebrate the unique qualities such items possess. I note that I have written about potatoes on numerous occasions -maybe I have an affinity for the starchy staple.
And so I bring you the humble spud.
Potato
by Jane Kenyon
In haste one evening while making dinner
I threw away a potato that was spoiled
on one end. The rest would have been
redeemable. In the yellow garbage pail
it became the consort of coffee grounds,
banana skins, carrot peelings.
I pitched it onto the compost
where steaming scraps and leaves
return, like bodies over time, to earth.
When I flipped the fetid layers with a hay
fork to air the pile, the potato turned up
unfailingly, as if to revile me—
looking plumper, firmer, resurrected
instead of disassembling. It seemed to grow
until I might have made shepherd’s pie
for a whole hamlet, people who pass the day
dropping trees, pumping gas, pinning
hand-me-down clothes on the line.
These are wonderful poems. I have to thank you for the blitz poems last week. I was on a car trip, taking my son to his first year of college. I was the most nervous one in the car...but I had a pad of paper that I numbered from 1-50 and kept working out lines for blitz poems. It was fun and very calming. Thanks, Alan!
ReplyDeleteLinda, what an interesting application of the Blitz poem. I had not considered as a calming strategy, but it seems to have worked its magic with you. Glad you like the potato poems.
DeleteI love potatoes. They are one of my favorite foods and I enjoyed seeing how they get to my table in your second poem, but also felt rather sympathetic, after all, they are fighters as we saw in your first poem!
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I love them too Janice. Glad you found the poems enjoyable and informative.
DeleteWow--two beautiful poems. Thank you. I love Jane Kenyon, but I didn't know this one. Also wanted to tell you I tried a blitz poem (2, actually) this week!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words Laura. Wow, you really got into the Blitz thing! Good for you...
DeleteAlan, when I read the word spud in your introduction, I had to laugh because my high school boyfriend was called Spudsy. Of course, he was Irish and rather liked the nickname. The two poems are wonderful examples of descriptive poetry with their language and sensory details. I like the movement in both. Thanks for sharing these works. I, too, played around with the blitz form but nothing as advanced at what the other colleagues are speaking about.
ReplyDeleteMy next door neighbour was 'Spud' Murphy. Murphy being another term for potato. It was therefore quite apt. Thank you for your generous remarks regarding the poems and good to hear of another poet trialling the Blitz poem format.
DeleteA timely topic for me, as I am going potato picking this afternoon (a first) :-) I enjoyed how very tactile both these poems are.
ReplyDeleteIt is never too late to experience another first Tabatha. Enjoy your spud picking adventure! Glad you enjoyed the poems, synchronicity at its best.
DeleteTwo delicious poems! Thanks for sharing both of them. I have dug potatoes but not on such a grand scale. We usually have just enough to turn over with a shovel.
ReplyDeleteThere exists in the simple act of digging up potatoes a revealing of natural magic. A short journey from the earth to the kitchen. The freshness is something to behold. Glad you found some flavour in these poems as well Kay.
DeleteI'm always intrigued by seeing how two poets approach a similar subject in markedly different ways. Great poems!
ReplyDeleteThanks Molly. I too am intrigued by the different perspective that emerge around the same subject. It adds a richness to the topic when we get to read diverse viewpoints.
DeleteYou never know where a poetic gem might be discovered - "Uprooted from hidden beds". Both poems are good reminders of the wonders the world has to offer our writing if we pay close enough attention. Now if you will excuse me, I think I'll check the pantry for some spuds to go with our BBQ chicken tonight. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is part of the poet's pledge to search for hidden treasure...Enjoy those spuds Bridget.
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