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Saturday, November 26, 2016

Weekend Mini Challenge: Cooking up a storm

Welcome to the Weekend Mini Challenge!
I love the poetry of Moniza Alvi, a contemporary poet who was born in Lahore, Pakistan and moved to England when she was a few months old. Most of her poems are about 'growing up... and feeling half-Pakistani... on the edge of things’, a topic she explored in her first, full-length collection, The Country at My Shoulder, which earned her a place on the New Generation Poets list in 1994. Since then she has published seven collections for which she has been nominated for several prizes.
Alvi' writes about place and identity, duality, difference, displacement, borders and edges, as well as possibility, worldliness and making connections. A wonderful example of this is her colourfully evocative poem ‘Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan’ which you can read via the following link: http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/moniza-alvi/presents-from-my-aunts-in-pakistan/.

The poem with which I hope to inspire you is ‘Indian Cooking’:

The bottom of the pan was a palette –
paprika, cayenne, dhania
haldi, heaped like powder-paints.

Melted ghee made lakes, golden rivers.
The keema frying, my mother waited
for the fat to bubble to the surface.

Friends brought silver-leaf.
I dropped it on khir –
special rice pudding for parties.

I tasted the landscape, customs
of my father’s country –
its fever on biting a chilli.
















Image from Shutterstock

I would like you to write a poem in the same format, four tercets, about cooking: it can be someone else doing the cooking, you cooking alone or together with a loved one; it can be sweet or sour, spicy or bland, a special or an everyday meal. All I ask is that it appeals to the senses and is related to your life or culture in some way.
Link up your poem below and enjoy the colourful and delicious cookery of other toads!






10 comments:

  1. Good evening all you toads in the imaginary garden! I've just warmed myself up with some lentil soup after returning from the local Christmas light switch-on, at which I sang in the alto 2 section of the Invidia Rock and Soul choir. I think we went down well and everyone seemed to be having a good time. But it was so cold! It's gone six o'clock in the evening here and I'm looking forward to reading some delicious poems about cooking!

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  2. I am always grateful for an introduction to a new poet. Thanks for hosting, Kim.

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  3. Hi Kerry! Thanks for having me as a host. I was worried at first that I had messed up the scheduling but the post popped up dead on six o'clock our time, which was great because I was out singing this afternoon!

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  4. What a delicious prompt, Kim. You've stirred all sorts of memories... in the best of ways. Thank you!

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  5. Thank you, Magaly. I can't wait to see what other memories and culinary delights will be shared!

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  6. I did actually cook Pakistani stew the other week... love my slow-cooker.

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  7. What a wonderful challenge and introduction to a new poet. I'm afraid my poem isn't as full of savory images, but it comes from a fond memory.

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  8. Thank you, Kim,, for this nice, tasty, prompt. You author is interesting, she has a way of getting us to be acquainted with a new place by describing the cooking of their food. One of my SILs is one quarter Indian descent and he loves to cook the dishes he learned from his father. He uses more curry than I really care for although I like his food.
    ..

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  9. Luvved the prompt, hope you all enjoy my share

    much love...

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  10. I love the nice, foody poems, including the one you shared. Unfortunately I am pretty much a non-cook – but I was able to expand on that. (It's not exactly four tercets, but it nearly is. I am practising the trimeric this month, so the first verse is one line more.)

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Much time and effort went into this post! Your feedback is appreciated.