Second helpings 
Meet Louise. “She” is me, using my middle name. She speaks from the middle of me and has courage to speak her mind. When I let her guide the poetry process, her fearless candor sometimes takes me by surprise. Louise and I enjoy cooking, so expect poems laden with kitchen and food imagery. The “kitchen” is our metaphor for creating and managing daily life.
Practicing yoga gradually opens my body and mind where I reclaim the source of my inner muse. The journey of yoga parallels my writing. A less obstructed mind can see deeper behind emotions and intentions. Poetry is a process of first engaging in illusions, then disengaging them to reveal something more spacious. I invite you to my “kitchen” with hopes that my food-laced poems arouse, unravel and illuminate. Like mastering a tricky yoga pose, Louise and I choose to learn at life’s edge and ultimately, celebrate.
As in my first book, Louise’s Caveat Kitchen, there are seven chapters or cabinets in Second Helpings each capturing various emotions. One of my favorite cabinets is Fool Happy Fodder, where I release my inner fool. The poems are silly and make me giggle.
Hog Heaven Soup
Louise borrowed her friend’s ham bone
And stirred and stewed on it
Until a vegetable sharing the pot
Smirked at her thickening mess When it was time to mop it up
Even the spongiest loaf couldn’t stop the
Drips oozing down the corners of her wry smile
When Louise removed the ham bone
It flew away like a pig with mighty, flapping wings
But she stayed high on that hog
Toast this White Trash Breakfast
With a slab of jam so sweet it hurts
I wear pink sparkles like a teenage flirt
Don’t judge me wrong with your hands on your hips
Just pucker up and give me your lips
Can’t guarantee I won’t steal your heart
I’m a cheap, little sugarcoated pop tart
Mrs. Butterworth’s Therapist
“You tend to pour yourself in uninvited places. It’s all sweet and jolly good, but in that tacky, sticky way. And what were you thinking pouring yourself over that leg of lamb?”
Philosophy of the Fruits of Pleasure
The pomegranate splits open wide showing off her succulent seeds
A bawdy crowd eats it up, watching the strawberry dip into a chocolate bath
Compliant, supple grapes display no wrath draped over Brie
The banana, tired of missing the boat, strips his yellow jacket
The pear ruffles her wide skirt, proud of her shape
The sinfully shiny apple dares to be bit in her midriff
And a fruity cocktail seeks companionship with one lean vanilla bean
You Dangle my Haiku
Carved eye peers in orange
Feel my DNA shrivel
One coy carrot curl
Damaged Goods Poker
In the solace of a dank stockroom the rejects played what they’d been dealt:
A dented can of corn raised the ante with a scarred can of peas
A bruised yellow zucchini whined and called
The moldy bread took the raise, adding a bag of stale bagels
The carton of expired milk exploded, then folded
The old American cheese processed it, and went for broke
The moldy bread, stacking a full straight, started to soak up the whole melting pot
Until the spoiled tomato bragged and spilled all red, his rotten trick
Pan Fried School of Physics
Battered, with one eye staring at me
A single black pupil opened wide as if to draw me in
The flounder’s recent world caught me
Where bubbles, disarray and chaos
Wrangled, by hook in fear
Then he let me look deeper
Let me feel the many flowing minds linked in their mystery dance Interconnected in movement, grace and beauty
Suddenly my iron pan heated and sizzled
And I returned to my fishy business
Buy book here, $12
Want both books? Buy Second Helpings for $12.00 and have Louise’s Caveat Kitchen for only $5.00! Buy both books, $17
Would you like multiple copies? I offer special rates! Inquire via the Contact Me page.
