Oh, the anticipation and the reality
of warm-kitchen days when hands
touched over a huge bowl or fingers
gripped together round a wooden spoon
in snowstorms of flour and avalanches
of butter eggs and sugar both tied
up in aprons red-cheeked and bright-eyed
mixing and stirring – baking and burning
pies and tarts to tempt and delight
Granddad when he came home
and I didn’t touch a crumb
because Nanny made a special
sugar-and-butter-filled pastry just for me
my very own baking-day delicacy
Kim M. Russell, 1st October 2019
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Looking for Sustenance
This Tuesday, Jade is our host for Poetics, and she brings us tasty quotes and poems about food, from poets such as Pablo Neruda, Bill Holm and Sylvia Plath, to name a few.
She says that ‘food is a universal factor in everything that is alive, which is why it is such a rich topic to create poetry around’. Which is why the prompt for the day is food. We don’t have to use the actual word food, but should write on the topic of food in one (or more) of its many aspects: growing it; eating it; preparing our favourite recipes; favourite food; hunger, craving, spiritual sustenance, or helping to feed others.
writing in north norfolk 
That reminds me when we, as a family, made Christmas cookies and strudel. Everyone helped although my mother did most of the work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good times!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have you gathered together your childhood poems? I think they’d make a wonderful collection, so redolant of an era, and yet such universal experiences.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a splendid idea, Sarah! I just hope I have enough. At the moment, I’m putting the final touches to a small anthology of flash fiction and short stories – my first foray into self-publishing. One of my children’s picture book stories was recently long-listed by The Emma Press. I’d like to self-publish that, but I’m no good at illustration.
LikeLike
Time with Nanny what a special ingredient. Your special pastry made with love ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Unfortunately my mother did not do anything like this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mine didn’t either. My grandmother filled all of those needs,
LikeLike
What a lovely memory of baking Kim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Linda.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My mother was a housewife, and Tuesday was “Baking Day”. She would bake several loaves of bread, and some kind of dessert–cake, pie, cookies, or sticky buns.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, the aroma of baking day!
LikeLike
What a lovely poem Kim! Time spent baking and learning is indeed wonderful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I thought you might like this one, Toni! Thank you.
LikeLike
Baking is such a wonderful communal activity–even the youngest can help out. (K)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Kerfe. I used to love baking with my grandmother. I’m looking forward to cooking with my grandson when he’s old enough.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What sweet memory this is Kim. Love this personal share.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Grace.
LikeLike
“Snowstorm of flour and avalanche of butter and eggs” … The phrase sets the scene so well. Bravo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Bev.
LikeLike
Nothing much better than homemade pastry.
Very nice imagery!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dwight!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful memory !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
I used to love baking like that, especially ginger bread. Now I feel I would only do it for myself, and that would make it more sustenance than actually joy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t wait to bake with my grandson!
LikeLike
what a synesthetic delight, so warm and delicious, every tone of memory tugs in this poem. hmmm!
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of my favourite childhood memories.
LikeLiked by 1 person