Sunday, August 8, 2010

Jeanne Iris is driving the bus

Birthday Girl, Jeanne Iris, is driving TFE's poetry bus this week - she gave us a great selection of options for prompts - which you'll find over here along with this week's passengers....

I chose to write about my favourite sensory memory of Summer... It involves pizza, which is funny, as I wrote a piece about my mother's homemade pizza which was included in this month's Senior Times thanks to Eileen Casey, who commissioned the piece a few years ago for her Tastes of Home project - memories and recipes, which was a lovely idea.
Anyway - this is one about another type of pizza, and I suppose just goes to show that pizza is inspiration on a whole load of levels

Somewhere in New York State

A pool was thick with children soaked and splashing
drinking chlorinated dilute stew
emerging for another layer of a fruity oil
or greasy cream
and sitting neath umbrellas that wouldn't save from rain
submerged again once skin has lost its wet in
the hot air, and icecream's dried on soft bleached cheeks

We tried a slice of real pizza
thinner than toast - the warm elastic
flowing cheese, umami in tomatoes
there hasn't been another to compare
to that slice of wonder
unmatched down the centuries

10 comments:

Dr. Jeanne Iris said...

Ah yes... nothing like the taste of homemade pizza with that special ingredient, love. A wonderful memory piece, Niamh!

Unknown said...

Mmm lovely memories

The Bug said...

Boy this brought back pool memories - but I always looked forward to eating a Payday candy bar at the pool. Don't know why, but they were considered strictly pool food.

Umami is right - I had to look it up, but that exactly describes how I feel about pizza in general.

Great piece!

Niamh B said...

Thanks Jeanne and thanks for the drive!
Thanks Gwei
Thanks Bug, yep I do love a bit of umami - can't get enough of it really

Summer Ross said...

Great memory, wonderful of you to share with us

Totalfeckineejit said...

Effortless, a stroll in the park, a doddle,easy peasy, a pizza cake.

WV= warmit, how spookly is thaticus?

Erratic Thoughts said...

mmmm...what a grand treat...
I used to trigger my mom to try some new dish everyday...We used to play and bring the entire house down, if it was unprepared...

Lovely Niamh..You made me nostalgic...

Niamh B said...

Thanks Summer, and TFE, spookilicious alright,
and erratic thoughts - sounds great. I used to invent cakes you could cook in the microwave that even the birds wouldn't eat... childhood cooking eh, just gorgeous

Argent said...

I'm positively salivating now! Love the joyful colourful images this conjures up.

Niamh B said...

tks argent - am after satisfying my umami cravings with a tomatoey omelette now, so quite happy