Best Rice Poems
(This is a universal story of mother’s sacrifice for their children, be it material, emotional, or intellectual.)
It was during the Korean War
Father was taken away by the Communists
Months ago
He never returned
Mother and I were left alone
In an island as refugees
Without anyone supporting us
One day
Mother brought a cup of rice
For me to eat
Only three spoonful
In the cup
I gobbled it up
Without much thought
Feeling still hungry
Mother took the cup in the kitchen
Closed the door
Through a crack
I saw Mother scraping
Scraping the bottom of the cup
For a few grains left
She licked the spoon over and over
How long has she been hungry
To feed me?
I froze
Really froze
I quietly left the room
To a beach nearby
Looking at the horizon
Where ocean met the sky
Far far away
Wanting to swim
Toward it
Until my strength
Sapped to nil
So that Mother didn't have to
Feed another mouth
Then a question surfaced
Will she be happy without me
So she can feed herself?
No way
Was my answer
She has already lost
Many of her loved ones
Without me
She will not go on living
I stood
With my heart filled with
Opposing forces
Resumed my walk
Toward Mother
Rice fields look the same except
for this one; this one who knew me
before i was born… and lying on her
fertile belly, she tosses the mist
of evening’s bamboo for raindrops to
moisten the flesh of gentle cattle.
Through serenades from elders
gathering in a bonfire of twitters
and jousts,a carousel of birds wheels
in a rhapsody, then takes flight along
scented air whisking tiny lanterns
near the plain,while rivers blue twirl
on rustic clay. How beautiful can she be!
I must have twirled with her on a cradle
of blushing petals swirling oh so feathery!
Waking up for some reason, dusted grains
on my eyes ignite this one
spectacle tryst with my rice field
where I have become different...
my head throbbing in sweet surrender,
perhaps, claiming the very floor
of my navel through her ripened harvest.
...................
Judged and Finalized 6/18/2016
I Got Zero, Nothing, Nada -1
Contest of Broken Wings
Resubmitted 7/1/2016
White as snow
sugar sprinkle and cinnamon
In the middle
a yellow moon smiles
One - just one almond
in the pot
Whoever finds it
a surprise will receive
Heart warming
Christmas ritual
12.12.2022
Sun :) - A-L Andresen :)
Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Poem of the Day 14.12.2022
I meet you in Laos
as a seed
just a simple
existence of hard rice
seeded inside Huay Xai’s dirt
until water plains
cradle and nourish your infant body
'till you sprout above water banks
where you tickle yourself
with sunshine
like a child who spends all
day with the wind
when you mature
people pull your roots
carry you in bulk back home
along with your friends
moisten your skin
steam under flames and
boiling water
only a bath where
dirt splashes off
while you try to hold
breaths underwater
your skin does not wrinkle
only softens
to stick with other rice
and sink in perfection
of the basket
where my mother’s hands
shake and shuffle you
into a ball
to roll on a plate
now fully grown ready to
liberate our hunger
with your body
that is how we meet
everyday even now
when I chew you in big bites
you never fail to fill
my head with steam
and make my tummy your
cozy home
sometimes I eat you too fast
you burn my tongue
and mom says
I am crazy for eating too fast
but it don’t matter
when I can cool
squeeze to pebble-size bits
dip you in fish soup
or papaya salad
Kao Niew
my family sits together
on the floor legs folded
or on a dinner table
you cuddle inside our bellies
warm our lips
all
the way
down
our throats
in cold evenings with no heaters
you sacrifice to
fill our stomachs
so we can stick to each other
and swallow
our love whole
fragile rice papers
cling to a thrashed wicker wall
and silent gazes
kanji-stained blots become buds
some bloom into ureshii
________________________________
1. "Ureshii" means happiness (Japanese).
2. Formerly titled Minamisanriku's List.
Cook white rice with ochroe in
Coconut milk-----stew
Pigs-feet and pigs- tail seasoned
and spiced ------ain't that nice
Yummy Yummy -----now
set the table
Eat
Hot.
Dig in man
A caribbean feast
and juice of lemons
Cucumber, hot peppers, salt
pour into jar------- add
Boil pigs-feet, in iron pot
Today if I'm anxious I will listen to the wind.
I will hear the birds calling one another or just chirping to be heard.
I will look around me and describe the brown tree with green moss on its side.
The cinder block grey and a leaf inside.
The sun orange and warming.
A cloud ,fluffy and white.
The man with a blue shirt and brown pants and with a plastic pen holder in his left shirt pocket.
A truck idling at the local bodega.
The blue car with chrome wheels.
The couple eating fried rice with chopsticks and laughing.
And I will find myself centered on the here and right now.
And I will know that I'm ok.
Breathe!
Let it out!
Breathe deeply!
I'm fine!!!
No one can see me!
the new normal
I'm isolated, waiting
at home with my wife
adapting like others
to our normal new life
a few days, no problem
a week, it's a breeze
but, nobody said
there would be days like these
at first it was easy
cleaning, watching tv
I dusted, did windows
even cut back a tree
i worked in the garage
got my records in line
i found about ten
i didn't know that were mine
i've written a little
tried to keep myself sane
watching tv is trouble
watching people in pain
my hands are all bloody
they are rough, dry and raw
they are the worst looking hands
that you ever saw
lotions and ointments
I rub them all in
my joints all are aching
like that man made of tin
we cannot have fires
open fires are banned
we can go on outside
we can't move, we can stand
my wife's in the kitchen
busy counting the rice
she's doing it right
she's counting it twice
yesterday morning
she worked right till night
she sorted the pasta
and she did it by height
the walls have been painted
right to the door lip
she did it real nice
she used a q-tip
i've sorted my hardware
all my nuts, screws and nails
i've got some in jars
i've put others in pails
the floors are all washed
the cupboards wiped too
we're adapting quite well
i hope you are too
when the weather gets nice
i'll go cut my grass
i'll use a ruler and scissors
to help make time pass
this is the new normal
it won't change for a while
so, stay at home please
read this, and then smile
nature's rice krispies
kindling wood on the fireplace
~ snap, crackle and pop!
YUM MAMA'S SWEET RICE--
Add cream, milk and butter
Boil it on the stovetop
Just the right amount of water and sugar;
Taste just like a desert
Yes! So lovely fine and nice
Yum!! mamasweet rice
Cornucopia Cooking Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Chantelle Anne Cooke
I do not want to eat rice and beans any more
I want a new meal
I'm ready to throw this pot out the door
I'm sure I've had my fill
Rice and beans is my poor folks food
You know when you barely have money
After four days it taste like it's already been chewed
But you smile and eat it like it's sweet honey
I wish I had a grilled burger smothered in cheese with fries on the side
Or a roasted turkey with cornbread stuffing and a side of apple pie
But instead I dread I have rice and beans to keep me fed
through the week
Black beans, red beans, pinto beans I will cook until my house starts to reek!
No more beans! No more rice!
I need more money to buy something nice
One day I will have my steak and potatoes and my mac and cheese
But until then, no more rice and beans please!
Don't know 'bout you, but I'm in a stew
that Rice ain't nice and the NFL smells.
Seems a shame, just 2 games
suspension for sending fiancé to unconscious dimension
but 5 games in the pink for some "illegal" ink
and a season on the rope for smokin a little dope.
Too bad, violence gainst women so sad
but these are men in a violent pen
NFL pretzel logical?
Whatever the reason, dirty laundry in preseason
washed clean yawl, if Ray take us to the Super Bawl.
Tennis anyone?
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/here-s-how-badly-the-nfl-did-in-its-punishment-of-ravens-rb-ray-rice-200513481-nfl.html
~Ode To Helen Steiner Rice~
(Monchielle)
Lovely lady, she shines
Ambass'dor of Sunshine
Daughter, sister and wife
Upliftin' poems she wrote
She persevered through strife
Lovely lady,she shines
She's famous poetess
Wrote verses of faith hope
Her life was very hard
She fought thru life to cope
Lovely lady, she shines
Verses sent from God 'bove
Love for God kept her strong
Thousands of poems she wrote
Poems soothes my soul so long
Lovely lady, she shines
In heaven she wears crown
She truly loved the Lord
Endured many set-backs
Her poems are adored.
Dorian Petersen Potter
aka ladydp2000
copyright@2009
October.18.2016
~Author's Notes:
The Monchielle poetry form or style was created by Jim T. Henriksen.
-Helen Steiner Rice-
Helen Steiner Rice was an American writer of religious and inspirational poetry. Helen Steiner was born in Lorain, Ohio on May 19, 1900
Born: May 19, 1900 · Lorain, OH
Died: Apr 23, 1981 · Lorain, OH
Wine Rice (Bubod)
Gin mixed well in cooked ground rice
Mash it soft and fine
Sealed in jar for long hours
Smells good, all lovers
Less cost and less sweat
Century food-
Perfect!
8/10/14
10.20am
©2014 Leonora Galinta
Note: Our great elders' ( over 70 yrs old) favourite recipe in our place:))) I've
tasted once when I went back home :))
A little boys poem
by BambiLynn'14
Hi Mama! I'm up here looking down upon you!
I didn't mean to go, I miss you too.
I see things a bit different from above.
Looking down at a world lacking love.
That big White House enlists all those young.
Sending them to fight with a big gun.
I wasn't yet grown, never made it to being a man.
I guess that's not what God had in his plan.
I just saw on tv, the news, the war heroes.
Was playing to be one~hit a big zero!
Mama, how does a policeman who should keep me safe...
See a deadly threat in a little waif?
We all grew up playing~ running in the day.
How does a grown man see me any other way?
It's so beautiful here Mama!
Nice,safe, at peace, no drama.
I'm watching you now! Your lil angel!
Please cherish our time and let the pain go.
I'm waiting right here Mama til you come!
I'm in your heart, I feel all your love.
It was Gods will that it was to be me...
My human face to recall as the example to see.
My face will help put an end to such hate.
I just wish it coulda dead stopped on my death date.
It's gonna keep on for some time more.
But me, Michael, Trayvon have opened that door.
All the love in my soul I send to your heart!
I love you Mama, Merry Christmas...
We're not too far apart.