Best Collard Poems
Listen Up, all good citizens of Milton Creek
If it's a night on the town and good food you seek
Come over to Aces
With your smilin' faces
The Grand Reopening's tonight. Come, take a peek!
Milt left his Aces Hotel to the entire town
No better place for a steak house, so come on down
It's got a new name, "Hank's"
In advance I'll say, "Thanks"
It serves the finest T-bones anywhere around
Restaurant and hotel are managed by Lin Lane
The town council swears it won't be part of a chain
Come early; take a seat
The steaks cannot be beat
Tonight there's free whiskey and imported champagne
Now, Lin is from way down yonder in New Orleans
She makes good chicken gumbo like most Cajun queens
It's good down home cookin
You don't need a bookin
Heard she's servin' jambalaya and collard greens
Right here tonight, in Milton Creek, as a surprise
Hanks will be introducing burgers and french fries
A dish loved in the South
It'll taste good in your mouth
But save room for pralines, and bourbon pecan pies
Mosey on over to Aces and have a bite
Tell all your friends and bring a hearty appetite
Get on your horse and ride
No guns allowed inside
There's a big party goin' on at Hanks tonight!
Categories:
collard, food,
Form:
Limerick
St. Milt’s Grand Opening today
Come and celebrate with us
On Martin Luther King Day
Worldwide choirs and gospel music
Singing MLK’s best loved hymns
Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simon
It’s grand opening, today
“Poetry Kids” reciting poems
Perfect for honoring the mission
Of this humble man, preacher, and scholar
It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Celebrate the great works he
Did for the Civil Rights Movement
Come and see our gallery
Recitals of Dr. King’s “We Shall Over Come”
“The Dream” his glorious words
That all men are created equal
Representing love and non-violence
We are serving MLK’s favorite foods
MLK was a minister, father, husband
And a son of the South
Here are the foods he loved to eat
Classic Southern foods we all love
A big Sunday meal
Southern delicacies
Fried Chicken
Sweet Potatoes
Pickled Eggs
Smothered Steak
Macaroni and Cheese
Collard Greens
Warm buttermilk cornbread
Quilly-Dr. King’s mother’s recipe
Pecan Pie
Where do we go from here?
Dr. King because of you, we are
Fairer and freer than in your time
Bigotry began to fade
More justice for all
Progress has been made
Dr. Martin Luther King,
You’ll march on in our spirits
Dr. Martin Luther King`s dream lives on
Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend--Martin Luther King Jr.
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends—Martin Luther King Jr.
Categories:
collard, appreciation, celebration,
Form:
Free verse
She takes her wand a sugar cane long
And waves it in the air singing a song
She likes to make her heroic cape
From collard green leaves that she crochet
She makes her brazier from coconuts
With licorice straps sticky to touch
Her bald head blessed with a crown
from grapevines with grapes hanging down
Her skin is thin from all the chemo
She is stronger than superman in her soul-food soul
She uses cotton candy to make her socks
Shoes so fancy by Goldilocks
Bet you never again will see
A skirt made of dried fruit candy
Yellow sun rays shine on her face
Fighting cancer with food in more than one way
6/14/22
Written for A MERGER WITH FOOD POETRY CONTEST
Sponsor Natasha L Scragg
Categories:
collard, cancer,
Form:
Rhyme
It Takes A Whole Village to Raise a Child: The Farmer
It has been said that it takes a whole village
To raise a child; How does a farmer help
Families raise the children?
Farmers live near the village; and together,
Everyone helps raise the children.
How do they help?
The farmers near the village grow food to sell.
They plant, tend, and harvest vegetable crops.
Veggies: lettuce, beets, cucumber, and tomatoes
Collard greens, cabbage, onions, and potatoes
Green beans, artichoke, peanuts, the list and work
Goes on and on and on—
Farmers hire many workers to harvest their many crops.
Products are then, sold and sent to many vendors.
Although there are still some independent farmers,
Some farmers, like those in olden days, grow on rural farms.
Families, men, women, and children working together,
Using hoes, beasts of burden and hand plows to work the soil.
Children helping along side watching adult examples—
However, these days, big agriculture businesses own farms.
They use huge machinery to operate their many acres.
Food producing farms: planting and harvesting to feed masses.
Their products, like smaller independent farmers’ products,
Are sent to markets in their homelands and abroad.
In the process of providing food and cotton for people,
Agriculture businesses and farmers alike set examples.
Good or bad, the children watch wide eyed
And ears perked!
Categories:
collard, food, on work and
Form:
Narrative
'It's A Small World' Restaurant ~ Hudson Valley, New York
My restaurant makes sense, it's rational...
the food I serve is multinational;
selected dishes, tasty, lots of fun
served in a setting that's compared to none.
The dining room's a circular design;
the floor rotates around and walls align
with landscapes of fine countries of the world
so diners feel the ambiance while whirled.
From USA's hamburger treats with fries
to Ireland's rich, delicious shepherd pies,
deep-dish lasagna with Italian wine,
and bratwurst, spaetzle Germans think divine.
Some soul food choices cooked as African
American delights browned in the pan,
like chicken, southern fried with black-eyed peas
and collard greens, a dish that's sure to please.
My Asian menu's served with varied teas,
from Chinese favorites to Japanese:
Chow Mein, Dim Sum, fried rice and spring rolls too;
Sushi, Tempura, Niku Jaga stew.
Great Britain's fish and chips, beef wellington,
or escargot from France; all said and done,
my restaurant draws many people in
to choose their culture's favorite at whim.
And while they dine, the music plays along
selected part from each land's special song.
My restaurant makes sense, it's rational...
with food and spirit multinational.
Sandra M. Haight
~1st Place~
Contest: My Imaginary Restaurant
Sponsor: Silent One
Judged: 10/03/2016
Inspired by:
Garden Grill Restaurant - Epcot, Disney World, Florida
revolves around vibrant views from Living with the Land.
and
It's A Small World - Show, The Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida
Categories:
collard, fantasy, food, world,
Form:
Iambic Pentameter
Mama ate her collard greens with raw onions, pinching a
morsel of greens with sweet cornbread, as juicy pork
neckbones lay naked of meat.
The sweetness of life, like sweet Kool Aid fills our tummies,
while dishes await scrapes of scraps for the family pet; Tuffy.
A simpler time, when gas was priceless at $.75 a gallon-
and exhaust fumes were free.
Corner, Jewish owned stores amass nickels for pounds of salt
pork, fat-back and tabs for grits, Wonder Bread and sardines,
pennies for cookies, salted peanuts float atop RC Cola bottles,
while the neighbor; Miss Sally spits “bacca,” in a old tin can.
We sprint as Wilma Rudolph to tab a gallon of milk, after biting
a red pepper disguised as an ornament hanging from Daddy’s bush,
while I scratch melanin legs infested with sand-sores, from making
mud pies.
Strolls cross the railroad tracks on Saturdays offer rare window peeks,
as the Christmas parade showcases the only ***** High School
steppin high, erect and purposed, as integration passes the house.
Time creeps unaware of bigotry, racism, poverty and out-voted segregation.
Time welcomed newborns of newly born future stars shining dimly while
dressed in blackness to affirm cultural change.
Categories:
collard, black african american, family,
Form:
Prose Poetry
Black-Eyed Peas for New Year’s Meal
Black-Eyed Peas
Black-Eyed Peas
I’m going to freeze
If I don’t eat Black-eyed peas
On New Year’s Day
Black-Eyed Peas
Black-Eyed Peas
Gee Whiz please!
Gotta have those Black-eyed peas
Mammy and Pappy always
Said, “Eat Black-eyed peas
And you will have plenty of monies
The rest of the year and live in ease.”
Black-Eyed Peas
Black-Eyed Peas
Play a little ditty while cooking those
Black-eyed peas
Cook them with bacon, or ham bones
Fatback or hog jowls
Serve with a
Side of collard, turnip, or mustard greens
And golden brown sweet cornbread please
Black-Eyed Peas
Black-Eyed Peas
Mammy and Pappy always
Said, “You can live with a little passing gas
On New Year’s Day
To enjoy having plenty of monies
The rest of the year and live in ease.”
Black-Eyed Peas
Black-Eyed Peas
I’m going to freeze
If I don’t eat Black-eyed peas
On New Year’s Day
12/29/2016
Categories:
collard, food, money, new year,
Form:
Rhyme
You marketing types love us.
Blue all over, fear of nothing a man can throw,
Quick to bow down when the boss come by...
not the one paying me....,
but the one who rules my roost.
Day breaks looks nice,
especially because the roads aren't covered and filled with the yuppie douche bag lawyers, bankers and brokers all on phones missing the opening of the days first gift.
you know these soft handed men!
Your commercials applaud our ethic,
our muscles,
our attitudes,
our jacked up 4 X 4
Our dick swinging genuflection to manhood's blue collar ways.
Toughness is forged by the cold weather winds,
Sun baked and burned backs,
Red tipped noses from over drinking the days end the night before
while being educated at H.K.U.
Not Hong Kong University...its Hard-Knock University
We learned in fields where sweat meets will
'cuz you cant fail.
Blood and callused hands complete the job,
the well,
the pipeline,
the boat,
the building,
Grown in fields of corn,
on oil rigs surrounded by the deepest blue oceans,
as blue as the collar around the neck.
tight, knowing there is nowhere else to go
and nowhere you would rather be.
Women feel the attraction, and we see it in your eyes...
Awakening the primal sense in you. The roughnecks and dirt covered crew.
You know your manicured husband just don't have this....or could do that!
You may want a well put together,
prepared and pampered over,
buffed and polished man,
but your desire fixates on men in blue who can do it all,
from fixes of the sink,
to kissing you tender pillow top lip,
Big and small, blue collard boys do it all!
Categories:
collard, fun, work,
Form:
Free verse
No! Cut this piece here!
No! Not there!
Why didn't you cut it right?
says Princess StepSister's
hyper-ventilated syndrome,
jonesing for her next pork chop.
I would have finished
but you bellowed me away
in your Ugly StepSister voice
demanding from open refrigerator door
that collard greens must stop evaporating
behind your eyes.
Ugly StepSister?
Did you just call me a StepSister?
I'm just saying
you think you're a Whatever Princess
but you don't act like one
because, as you know,
princesses are always kind
and say please and thank you
and not whatever,
and seldom if ever bark and bite
at the hands created to lovingly feed them
for the next several years;
while Ugly StepSisters
act like whatever bullies,
talk like ballistic assault weapons.
Which is why
Cinderellas are selected to dance
with Prince Charmings,
and thereby become kind Princesses,
rather than stuck in Ugly StepSister roles and rules,
harping at Prince Charming Dads
to cut their pork chops faster,
and better,
and now,
if not yesterday.
Oh...
Would you cut my pork please, in smaller pieces?
and not take your usual gimpy time, thank you.
Why of course my Princess,
I love to live your Prince Clumsy.
Categories:
collard, appreciation, happiness, health, love,
Form:
Political Verse
The South is best known for their Southern cooking, including some collard greens. All
Southern foods have been around since Abe Lincoln ended slavery for good and when
African-Americans have earned the right to vote. What's so great about southern cooking is
that everybody's eating a home-cooked meal, just like their moms used to make. There's lot
of Southern foods we all love: there's fried and barbecue chicken, some collard greens,
mac and cheese, candied yams, some corn bread, the works. When everybody's eating the food
from the South, it's like eating at a Southern buffet restaurant in Mobile, Alabama, on a
Sunday afternoon, and upon leaving church. And along with their food, they've got some
homemade lemonade, sweet iced tea, and other Southern drinks. Their food is going to wish
that these people would stay in the South for a long, long time. Come to think of it,
Southern cooking is as good as soul food that is made in the city of Atlanta, Georgia,
especially when they're eating some chicken and waffles, some chicken fried steak, and
shrimp and grits. Now how delicious is that? And everyone will be talking about the food
they've eaten and recommend their favorite Southern restaurants to their friends and
family members, even on holiday. Boy, are we going to have a Southern fest with our
favorite foods from the South, including some crawfish, some barbecue ribs, hot water corn
bread, every piece of food everyone can think of. And after this Southern fest is done at
the end of the day, we'll be wanting some more of that Southern cooking.
Categories:
collard, food, on writing and
Form:
Epic
GOOD LUCK MEAL
Hog jowl fried so crispy brown
Black eyed peas abound
Collard greens from the truck patch
Sweet tea down the hatch
Candied yams as well
My, do tell
YUM!!
Curtis Moorman
21 December 2011
For Russell Siver's contest
Categories:
collard, holiday,
Form:
Epulaeryu
Pry me essence
Of honey dew melon
Fat back gimme
Mo collard greens
Gimme essence from
Flavas undone
Marmalade too
Of long ivory tusks
That elephants do
From the flight
Of the whip poor will
Till
The next rains flood
Those plains
Talking bout old essence
Encountered
From far and near
Yet never here
To the dried up bones
That bake in the in the Sahara sun
As the mighty Mississippi
Giving life to everyone
Visions from the native
Child tears from fear
And unrest
While there forefathers
Laugh and cry then
Turn over in their graves
As the millions
man woman child
Hordes
March on on and on
Undaunted and forever ..
Wounded
All rights reserved
A.camacho jr.
1996-2015
Categories:
collard, africa, courage, freedom, inspirational,
Form:
Free verse
So you are choosing Rocky Mountain Oysters over Meatballs
You love to eat them from a zip loc bag at the mall
You grew up in the deep south eating these odd things
For instance, you choose chicken feet with toe nails instead of chicken wings
You said you would eat the Rock Oysters with spaghetti or rice, it really doesn't
matter
Sometimes you eat them fried in a Tempura Batter
Do you ever feel remorse knowing some baby pigs are missing their Pa
All because you prefer Rocky Mountain Oysters over Meatballs
I can't condone your preference for what you would call a tasty treat
Something is wrong passing up boiled eggs for pickled pig's feet
The stuff you eat would have me being a frequent flyer to a bathroom stall
I can't get past you showing favorites to Rocky Mountain Oysters Over Meatballs
Did anyone tell you what they really are
It's not something you eat with a date gazing at the stars
My mind has always been open to try different things
But I need to draw the line eating a male animal's bling bling
I've eaten camel, horse, octopus even legs of frogs
Down in Tijuana, I ate tacos made from dog
You say what's wrong with this, I share these with my in laws
Another advantage is Rocky Mountain Oysters cost less than your run of the mill
Meatballs
Have you tried them with a little bit of Texas Pete
Rumor has it they started with sheep on the island of Crete
I do however like a good seasoned batch of Collard Greens
Can't quite completely criticize the South, I am caught in between
But I do get a kick out of the deep Southern Drawl
But I am still a Yankee when declining Rocky Mountain Oysters over Meatballs
Categories:
collard, food, funny,
Form:
ABC
The green cuisine will make you lean.
Like Jeanne, Christine, or age eighteen.
Sardines, soybeans, along with greens
Will help you fit in smaller jeans.
The diet scene, you've seen umpteen!
You've worked out on the green machine.
Being lean they say is supreme.
Like if you are a strong marine.
Or when he rubs on your sunscreen.
But if you're fat and seem obscene,
Be sure to wear a hat that's green.
The color green is so serene.
And sparkles in the sunlight's sheen.
Eat: kale, spinach and collard greens
Or buy a great big hat thats green!
© March 1, 2012
Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen
Written for Poetry Soup Member Contest: The Colors Have It
Sponsor Russell Sivey
Categories:
collard, food, funny, green,
Form:
Rhyme
Day before Thanksgiving I come home from high school
my mom in the kitchen roasting ,baking, cooking
Busier than a cranberry merchant
throw away tin foil pans aligned with gourmet delights
Collard greens, string beans, roasted ham, stuffed turkey, candied yams lay on the kitchen table
and on the counter top sweet potato pie, apple pie, chocolate cake
all made from scratch
In a bowl rest her famous potato salad
ready to be refrigerated overnight
I know better
and stayed out of her way
I am dying to satisfy my hunger but I know better
because she is cooking tomorrow’s dinner
Anyway I asked what’s for dinner
She asked, “how was your day at school”
I lied and said everything is ok
and in the process I steal a few cheese cubes
which are for her baked Macaroni and Cheese
She makes me a small plate of food
And I go up stairs to my room
The aromas coming from my mom’s kitchen
on the day before Thanksgiving holds special memories and comfort in my heart
Categories:
collard, family, heart, love, mother,
Form:
Free verse