My empty gut in echoed hunger
rests in burgers dripping with grease;
recall the pangs of when much younger.
The crumbs always lead me back home
with dry white toast and margarine,
big orange blocks of surplus cheese,
macaroni, and mushy green beans.
The crumbs always lead me back home.
German Chocolate cake from a mix
with hard coconut grit in my teeth;
chicken, and dumplings with Bisquick.
The crumbs always lead me back home.
As sugar grumbles, my liver faints.
Rewarding quarters fund this thief;
my face frequent in dime store haunts.
The crumbs always lead me back home.
There are exceptions to all rules.
When family gathers blanket grief;
nutritious laughs ‘mongst carefree fools,
the crumbs always lead me back home.
Today’s offering is in a modified kyrielle form.
Top image of food art is by Piotr Bikont
Sarah is today’s host for dVerse’ Poetics. Sarah says:
So, your mission for tonight is to write a poem about food.
Tao Talk 
I like this celebration of very ordinary food and the idea of crumbs leading us home – shades of Hansel and Gretel? The repetition works well, and the picture is hilarious!
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Thanks much, Sarah. I was born and raised with that kind of food, but at holiday gatherings we had banquets with plenty of good cheer. About the image, there is a site full of these funny food images and this one, with all of the starch, seemed to exemplify it best 🙂
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I love it. the simple food we ate… all those things that today are considered less fancy. I remember we sometimes had canned ha for instance.
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We had a very large family (7 kids and 2 adults) and not a lot of income. This kind of fare was the usual. I look back on it and all of the candy I ate as a kid and cringe!
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This is an intriguing and haunting poem, Lisa – and great to hear you read!
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Ingrid, thank you very much for noticing the subtleties of it. Glad you liked the reading 🙂
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So lovely to hear you read this poem, Lisa! I resonate with; “nutritious laughs ‘mongst carefree fools, the crumbs always lead me back home.”
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Thank you very much, Sanaa. Sometimes the crumbs are enough.
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Surplus cheese was a staple when I was very young. When I think about how meals were prepared back then — lard, for instance, or my father’s snack of a slice of bread spread with butter then sprinkled with sugar – I wonder how any of us survived. I know his clogged arteries were a testament to it.
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I’m glad you can relate, Ken.
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You make it look so simple – so fun to read, a lovely flow, like real poetry…love it – I mean it IS real poetry of course!
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lol, thanks, Ain. I often wonder myself whether it’s “real poetry.”
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Beautifully done. I appreciate the journey, and the delight invoked with following a trail of crumbs.
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Masa, your kind words and your delight are appreciated. Thank you.
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“The crumbs always lead me back home.”
Awesome repeated line.
Much love…
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Gillena thank you very much.
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This is wonderfully written Lisa. Had a bittersweet flavor, but home always lingers in the bones. My crumbs always lead me to the mountains, forests, and streams of Oregon. I made certain not to drop anything when I left Ohio.
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Rob, thank you for your thoughtful comment. You got where I was going with my dropped crumbs.
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Those vegetables from a can…You’ve described my childhood diet perfectly. (K)
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haha! And we survived!
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It’s amazing when I think of the “food” we ate.
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This was wonderful, Lisa. Remembering the food you were brought up on which may not be gourmet, but always remind you of where you came from.
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Thank you. Very good point, Dale. It sure does!
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Tuna sandwiches and tomato soup and I’m right back at my family kitchen table, having just walked home from school for lunch 🙂
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Yum that sounds really good right now 🙂
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You know, now that we’re “talking” about it… I haven’t made a tuna sandwich in AGES… gonna do so tomorrow!
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Love the recurring refrain Li. Nicely penned
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Thank you, Sadje 🙂
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You’re welcome my friend
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‘The crumbs always lead me back home’ ~ so much in these lines!
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Carol, thank you 🙂
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I love what you did with this one Lisa. I could identify with some of those images as the crumbs lead you back home. Well done.
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Dwight, thank you very much.
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You are very welcome!
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Love the plate bunny… is this your creation?
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I wish I could take credit for it. It’s from a Russian food site that makes art out of food.
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That is very creative!
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I certainly have fond memories of my mom’s cooking. I think she did a great job providing us with delicious foods. Overall, I would say our diet was also pretty healthy. My mom mostly used fresh ingredients. Vary rarely did we have already prepared meals.
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Christian, I’m happy you had that kind of healthy start in your life. What is your favorite that your mom prepared for you?
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She made a yummy cheesecake, based on a recipe from my grandma.
One of her main dishes I liked in particular was fried liver Venitian style with onions and plenty of garlic, served with rice.
Perhaps somewhat ironically, based on what I said before, there was also a prepared spaghetti dish called Miracoli – basically, spaghetti with a tomatoe sauce and a mix of spices – super tasty! 🙂
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🙂
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It’s lovely to hear you read, Li. It’s a wonderful coincidence that I’ve written on similar lines, comforts of a simple meal. 🙂
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Thank you, Kitty 🙂 Will be visiting the poetry trail again soon to see your offering.
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I love hamburgers and simple foods – my Dad had a very simple taste, and I love all the foods he used to enjoy 😀
❤
David
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I’m glad those simple foods made you think of your Dad, David.
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Love the presentation in the image. Happy to learn Kyrielle and food combos. I looked up Bisquick though…
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Thanks much, Reena. There was always a box of Bisquick in the cupboard when I was growing up 🙂
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A kyrielle I savored,with its varying flavors and sinful treats that came along the way…
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Thank you, Q. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Th refrain cannot be avoided, it anchors the experience long held, no matter the journey, wonderful.
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Well-said, Paul, thank you.
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Loving your lines 🙂
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It’s funny reading about the food other people were brought up on. Industrial food wasn’t really a thing in the households I knew, so it was loads of potatoes pasta and rice, vegetables especially cabbage, very little meat and no shop-bought sweet stuff. It was probably very healthy!
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Yes it has been fun seeing what others ate as kids. I wish there hadn’t been so many little mom and pop stores around I could walk to to buy candy. For some reason my folks didn’t have a problem with it!
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I hope they also had a good dentist!
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😦 Our dentist’s motto was to pull baby teeth and also to pull permanent teeth first, ask questions later.
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Bit like ours, but he never extracted any of ours, just drilled the bastards before they even thought of getting a cavity.
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Crumbs leading us back home and to ourselves is a beautiful thought. It’s so easy to lose who we are these days.
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It does seem like we can get lost in the chaos, you’re right.
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I wasn’t sure when I read this if these were fond memories or held sadder undertones? Less celebration, more reflection. I like the rhythm of the Kyrielle – the repeating refrain so perfect for the words themselves.
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Marion, I appreciate your closer look. The reality is they are memories, for better and worse. They go hand in hand. I do remember the sharp contrast between our daily fare and the sumptuous offerings at our large family holiday gatherings. Thank you for the kind comment 🙂
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You are very welcome😊
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I do love the image and it reminded me of hansel and Gretel.. Love the repeat!~ 💖
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Thanks much, Cindy 🙂
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You’re so welcome! 💖
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❤
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