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Feasting On Food Poems

 This week I am dining out on food poems. A topic quite generously served up within my  world of words. 

The first poem is quite old. I wrote it more than forty years ago. The second poem is more recent. In between these poems there are countless other food poems I've dined out on. Bon appetite!






SOGGY BEANS IN MY JEANS

Auntie Bess I must confess

I didn’t eat my greens

When you got up to get dessert

I hid them in my jeans

 

I then walked home to my place

As quiet as a mouse

My pockets full of soggy beans

Until I reached my house

 

Well, that was many years ago

And I was just a kid

And still, I don’t like soggy beans

-I Never Ever Did!

©Alan j Wright












JUST A SMIDGE

 

I shall break off a tiny piece of this biscuit

A morsel

A smidge

Enough to tantalize and tease my tastebuds

 

Something this sweet and delicious

Requires delicate nibbles

At the very edge

Just to make it last a little longer.

 

This taste tempting treat

Must be eaten slowly,

Deliberately

No greedy pig slices for me

Oh no

 

So it’s just a smidge

A morsel-

Nibble

Nibble

Nibble

All the way

To the last

 

Delicious

 

Tiny

 

Crumb.

©Alan j Wright

 

it is Poetry Friday once more and our host this time is Jan at Bookseedstudio who presents a post about the eternal search for principled leadership while remembering Martin Luther King. 

 

 

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Comments

  1. Mona Voelkel16 January 2026 at 11:10

    Love them both, especially how the reader enacts the nibbling actions in "Just a Smidge"!!! Hope you are working on a collection of food poems because these are deliciously humorous! Thanks for sharing!!!

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    1. Alan j Wright16 January 2026 at 12:08

      Thank you, Mona. Your comments make me smile. Quite ironically I do have my food poems collected in an unpublished anthology. Poetry publications are thin on the ground in Australia, unfortunately. Publishing are risk averse with children's poetry. I am sustained by your response though.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17 January 2026 at 23:25

      Alan! Have you seen Eric's call for humorous poetry yet? https://sillysociety.org (Mona)

      Delete
    3. Alan j Wright18 January 2026 at 12:11

      Thanks for the alert, Mona. I shall investigate...

      Delete
  2. Jane @ www.raincitylibrarian.ca16 January 2026 at 12:31

    I feel that way about soggy Brussels sprouts - and the joy of being a grown-up is that no one can make me eat them, ever again!

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright16 January 2026 at 14:11

      Brussel Sprouts require a lot of care and preparation to pass the taste test, so like you Jane, I am wary of them. One of the benefits of attaining adult status is certainly choice of what to eat. Mind you, our tastes often change as we grow. There are foods I now embrace that once caused me angst, like broccoli.

      Delete
  3. Karen Edmisten 17 January 2026 at 05:30

    Ha! These are delightful and your first poem reminds me of a time when I was a child, having dinner at my grandmother's house. She served canned peas, which I HATED, so I scarfed them quickly, to get the ugliness over with. She assumed I loved them so immediately gave me a second helping. :D So thoughtful of her, and so terribly wrong, lol.
    Thanks for the feast of food poems today, Alan!

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright17 January 2026 at 12:29

      Thank you, Karen. Yes, those childhood food aversion stories are burned into our conscious memory. I can understand your dislike for canned peas.

      Delete
  4. Rose Cappelli17 January 2026 at 08:54

    Thanks for the smile from both of your poems, Alan. I can especially relate to "Just a Smidge"

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright17 January 2026 at 12:30

      My pleasure, Rose. Glad they elicited smiles.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous18 January 2026 at 03:58

    Hi foodie Alan. Appreciations for providing the smiles we all desperately need. I am smitten with the green beans story poem. I was never as smart as you, I hid my unwanted veggies from my mouth into the paper napkin when I coughed, until that fabric napkin [ who had fabric napkins in those days except royalty & we weren't royal]] at a relative's house got me in trouble. I feel everyone appreciates the Light you're giving us here here this weekend - we need it! your fan, jan

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright18 January 2026 at 12:05

      Thank you Jan. Your positive response to my foodie feast delivers me souful energy. Love your own particular food story. My wife secreted food in a vase of flowers when her mother left the room. All great responses to our respective food nightmares. I shall endeavour to bring more light to the gatherings...

      Delete
  6. Anonymous18 January 2026 at 11:55

    Ha ha! Forty years cannot make soggy beans more appealing. That poem still stands up. Our daughter lived in the UK for a time and we have a running discussion about cookies and biscuits in this house. I love that there is just a smidge of biscuit tasted.

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    1. Alan j Wright18 January 2026 at 12:10

      Ah, the cultural divide over biscuits and cookies. In Australia, I grew up with biscuits, alwaays biscuits. I temporarily adjusted to cookies when living in the US, but have reverted back since returning home. Glad you enjoyed the tastings I shared. I continue to nibble my biscuits in smidges...

      Delete
  7. Mary Lee19 January 2026 at 00:05

    What a contrasting pair of poems! I giggled at the way the nibbles whittled both the treat and the poem down to a single crumb!

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright19 January 2026 at 14:25

      Great to giggle now and then, Mary Lee. Thanks for your kind remarks.

      Delete
  8. Patricia Franz19 January 2026 at 06:18

    One of the most important jobs of a pet dog is for her to eat your soggy peas when no one's watching :)
    Love that poem, Alan!

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright19 January 2026 at 14:26

      Such valued additions to our families, Patricia. Woof!

      Delete
  9. Michelle Kogan20 January 2026 at 10:07

    Alan these are wonderfully delicious! Love your SOGGY BEANS IN MY JEANS reminds me of "George and Martha" by James Marshall and George pouring the pea soup into his loafers. Thanks for all the smiles in your poems! 🥰

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright20 January 2026 at 14:30

      Thanks, Michelle. Glad to bring some smiles. Shall check out your reference.

      Delete

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