Read Write Poem invited us to write about food associations. I thought and thought and thought this week, lots of things surfaced. Getting them into a poem? Not so much. So I discovered that I had not shared this poem which I wrote about 15 years ago. And sharing it here gave me opportunity for revision. (I may use this for the basis of a pantouom.)
Adelanto
Rancho Cucamonga lined in palm trees
Snakelike San Bernardino Mountain Pass
Sage foothills, Joshua tree desert
Foot fights with younger brother
Butterfly stomach
on windy, carnival road
Highway food stand
Purchased black, green olives
minutes from Adelanto
Desert white masonry brick house
Eucalyptus and castor trees
lined gravel driveway
Cool refuge from a sweltering sun
Great aunts, aprons on
Busy ricing potatoes
Great uncle hugged nonstop
Bleu cheese, tomato soup
Bubbled through cauliflower
Table set for a feast
Sun porch swing
Rocked me until
Eyelids slammed shut
Starlit night debuts
on black damask
Fairy lights twinkle far off
a day’s journey
I may have to make the bleu cheese tomato soup cauliflower casserole this weekend.
Visit Read Write Poem and see what others are writing about this week.
Jone Rush MacCulloch 
I like the way you take us “over the river and through the woods,” so to speak, before setting us down to the feast.
I like the fantasy feel of these lines:
Starlit night debuts
on black damask
Fairy lights twinkle far off
I strongly related to the description of the land having lived in the Riverside/San Bernardino area for a few years. My memory came alive. And speaking of memory, your food memories got me to thinking about my grandparents and their breads, donuts (grandpa called them fry cakes), and flapjacks. There always seemed to be a light dusting of flour handing in the kitchen.
While I knew some of the references, you made it your own and I went with you on this trip, a happy passenger.
Some of the favored favorites: “carnival road,” “castor trees,” “ricing potatoes,” and “starlit night debuts.”
Such a great journey in “only” a day.
I have been over those same roads many times…and I love your very vivid descriptions! I especially like the last stanza, where you rocked yourself to sleep….
Lots of detail in your memory; very sensory. That cheese, tomato, cauliflower dish sounds a comforting way to finish off your journey and your day, in the bosom of the family.
I love the way you integrate not just food but the tactile and visually tasty details of the outdoor scene into the poem and its emotional power as memory.