In The Kitchen of Angelo

In The Kitchen of Angelo

In the kitchen of Angelo,
the olives roll their blood shot eyes in the jar,
the bread swells in clean curved slices,
and chosen cheeses leap for each dish served.
He has stirred his grandmother into the tasty sauce
of a thousand recipes.
His children move dark eyed and helpful
among the people to be fed.
Angelo is cooking in the kitchen
and promoting the arts out front,
where a young woman sings her original lyrics
and a poet places small books
with hopeful hands.
There is a tee shirt waving above the register,
created in the dreamy breeze of someone's mind.
The walls display photos and paintings
and the marine legacy of Angelo himself.
He has not ran away from the country he adopted.
He is not one to run from duty.
He has brought Italy to a mountain city
and drank to her survival in the hard hills.

Reviews

[three]

every part of the poem seems enthusiastic. what a beautiful piece of writing...now i just wish angelo would make me some garlic bread!

[Terry Collett]

yes, this is going to be a favourite poem of mine. Thank you.

[W.k.kortas]

The "blood shot eyes" of olives--who else comes up with images like that? It's perfectly visual and wonderfully narrative. A virtuoso performance.

[Tracie Skarbo]

superb description all the way through... this sounds like a wonderful place to spend an evening!

[Charles]

The first several lines here are wonderful for their imagery - never a better description of olives, bread and cheese. After that, it was a delight to see a message develop (many times, a poem that starts like this goes nowhere). The only line that deviates from the demonstrative narrative is line 14, which 'tells' the reader about the tee shirt... I think the style would be more consistent to say 'a tee shirt waving above the register / was created in ...' I also wonder about the tense of verbs in the last two lines (has brought / drank - it seems as though it should be 'has brought / drunk (the has here being implied)' In other words, mixing the present perfect tense (has brought) with the past (drank) seems a bit chancy. Why not keep it all in the past tense by dropping the 'has' or keep it all in the present by changing 'drank' to drinks?' I know I'm strange, but I do notice these things. Great writing, even considering my nit-picking. :-)

[Constance-Outspoken]

This is a well painted caricature of a man, a place, and a time. I thoroughly enjoyed the read all the way through.
"created in the dreamy breeze of someone's mind" I love that line. The most wonderful things are created in that place.
The piece flows well, every line has purpose and meaning, and the big picture leaves one with a feeling of "knowing". That means this is a wonderful poem. Many many kudos. Thank you for sharing.

[Ed Hart]

oh, thank you...Now, I can go back to "handless Luke" and keep reading...

[James Paulin]

You have painted a colorful portrait that is easy to visualize. I can almost smell the garlic and oregano. The proud Italian is well represented in this poetic scene.