Heart-Shaped Spud

I give you a humble potato,
imperfect and caked in soil,
ready to be bathed in clear water,
it’s knobbles caressed and cherished.

So versatile is the potato,
it can be whatever you will,
roasted, mashed, fried. To you I offer
a dish of Dauphinoise – embellished

with garlic and cream, sliced potato
cheesy with Gruyere, sprinkled with dill,
slow-cooked until crispy on top and softer
beneath – steaming and ready to be relished.   

Kim M. Russell, 13th February 2025

Image by blackieshoot on Unsplash

This Thursday at the dVerse Poets Pub it’s Open Link Night, when we can link up any onepoem we like or we can take part in the mini prompt provided by our host who, this month, is Björn. So very close to Valentine’s Day, our prompt is inspired by one of my favourite modern poets and one of my favourite poems, ‘Valentine’ by Carol Ann Duffy, in which she gives her lover an onion instead of a rose.  

Björn asks us to take ‘an object or a plant (a cactus or a fish for instance) and think about how that object may symbolize affection and maybe even possession’.

I’m not a fan of commercialised Valentine’s Day, but I thought I’d have a bit of fun with it.

40 thoughts on “Heart-Shaped Spud”

  3. Sincerity in your words in this most accomplished verse, I must say…not tongue in cheek, am impressed how a spud can sound so literary, much better than Rabbie Burns ode to his haggis….

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  4. This is absolutely exquisite! I love; “To you I offer a dish of Dauphinoise – embellished with garlic and cream, sliced potato cheesy with Gruyere, sprinkled with dill.” ❤️❤️

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