Chutney Poems

Some Like It Hot

With coriander cumin turmeric
basmati rice saffron and spice
onions chilli peppers
and all things nice
with chapati and chutney
a samosa or two
naan for starters
rogan josh vindaloo
not eye-watering
but tasty is best
tandoori tikka masala
korma's a meal with zest
chicken lamb chickpeas or lentils
a dinner for two you do not hurry
allow what you've got to simmer in the pot
if you want a winner curry

DOSA

Dish of Indian make.
Dear to all Keralite.
Dry rice and dal well soaked,
Drained and ground to fine paste, 
Dough flattened and roasted,
Delicious with chutney.
Delectable to all.

Evanescence

Nested in the cat’s cradle
Paraded in a child’s fable         
I have no voice, don’t let me die
No longer shall I live a lie
I have no soul nor thoughts to save
Unbeknownst to me is
this life beyond the grave?
A designer dainty as she
silky essence she creeps upon so free
and with sheer elegance
unveils a painted lady in a trance

Wake me before the dream ends
In this a lie I can’t depend
Ochre paint splat on walls
Tinted forewings so not to fall
Hindwings I hold up in pain 
Fragile chitin, scales, and veins   
Bleeding strokes of mango chutney
Opera gloves cobalt blue, cloak impunity 
Wake me up! Before I drop
Still asleep, a standing prop
And when I open my eyes
I’ll have wings like butterflies 

The bitter truth sounds insane
Blends of electronic elements 
Mesh makes perfect sense distasteful
Nestled neatly prim and graceful
Kept in the dark where it’s unfair
Wake me lest I vanish in thin air
In my dream a translucent permanence
I stand alone and have woken an evanescence 

Monkey Business

marauding foxes  
mutilating fruit
minutemen mischief-makers
marching upon us

pick our pockets
laugh at our loss
   
“No mangoes for sale”

maimed, mangled, mashed
sweetness shamed  
to death
ants and gnats feasting
off illicit mango chutney

sly scamps
evade 
like Bolt-pace
their intake 
of fruit sugars  
insufficient for catching  
robust diabetes
enfeebling the fiends
abducting limbs, or a pedactyl
soulful eyes stare with jeers
sailing
mimicking 
bold breezes 
through the trees
as I could never  
in the canopy of my Caribbean youth
under mother's God-eye 
girls outclimbed me
wearing puffy petticoats
and cumbersome cornrows 
to perpetrate petite thefts
          of mangoes

The Vada Pao

I live in a country where people worship the holy cow
But there is a street food in Mumbai famously called the vada pao
It is humble food of the poor but with a big mac it can compete for sure
Many people stop by to taste it when they come for business or leisure
A ball of spicy potato dipped in gram flour and deep fried
Then put in a loaf of bread sliced open with chutney to try
A must have if you ever come to this city
If you ever miss it, it will be a real pity

Fun With Friends

"recently scenes of early life have stolen into my mind, like breezes blown ..."

                       -  Quote by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (from his writings)


When I was young and innocent,
I enjoyed life just as a child,
Had fun with friends magnificent!

Playing games out there in the wild,
Running around free, playing catch,
Chasing dragonflies, how we smiled!

Sharing jokes, we were quite a batch,
Climbing trees to pluck and eat fruits,
Not bothered about scrapes or scratch!

We had our own share of disputes,
Got o'er them just as children can,
Followed grand whimsical pursuits!

Sometimes we walked, sometimes we ran,
We thought our childhood life was cool,
Cycling around, we hatched such plans!

We gorged on 'chaat'* outside our school,
When I was young and innocent,
Trusted each other as a rule,
Had fun with friends magnificent!


*'chaat' is a sweet and sour, tangy Indian snack made up of raw vegetables, puffed rice, boiled chickpea, boiled potatoes, tamarind chutney, spices, etc. 

10th October, 2022

For Constance La France's "Writing Challenge - Past Memories - "T" Forms" contest

A Pickle Party

All the Pickled produce gathered
At Branston Manor - if you please!
They entered via a staircase
Made of Jacob's Crackers and Cheese.

The Gherkin Girls and Chutney twins,
Who's names are Tom and Mango
Compete against the Beetroot Troupe
To make the taste buds Tango!

The Beetroot Troupe are not alone.
They have a wise old friend
Zingy Mr. Vinegar.
Always ready to defend. 

The Silverskins call upon
The Shallots acapella choir
To pack a punchy added flavour
In a pitch that can't go higher.

The sour Grapes sulk in the corner.
They apparently should not have come.
Only Pickles were invited.
It was not open to everyone.

The Eggs got pickled with too much drink.
They thought it would be fun
To gatecrash the party
Just to confuse everyone!

It was an event to be remembered.
But alas, though sad to say
The party ended abruptly.
For they were consumed that very day!


Written 18th August 2022
For the, "It's A Pickle Party Contest"
Sponsor: Mystic Rose Rose

My Little Tree

I've got a little apple tree
But it's started to get big,
I planted it about three years ago
When it was just a twig.
It's started bearing fruit you know,
Rosy apples by the score,
At the rate that it is growing
I won't need to buy none anymore.
I am going to make some chutney,
My wife a pie or two,
And if there is any left
She might make one for you.
We could relish one with custard
And one with ice-cream to,
It's amazing how a fruit tree
Can have this effect on you.
I know it might sound silly
To write a poem about a tree,
But look at all the pleasure
That it has given me.

Pickle

PICKLE

        Plums preserved in palatable pickles:
        I relish, cherish sweet and sour taste
        Cheery chutney alluring taste buds sensitive to sweet cum sour.
        King of dishes to take before dessert.
        Lovely to lick moistening tongue
        Ensuring fulfillment of demand of twined sweet and sour touch. 


     02'21/20

Harvest

Yes autumn! With a carpet of old leaves,
dying annuals sun burnt look old.
Mist welcoming with morning gloom;
ripened fruit now hanging bold.

Oh autumn! Let me reap your bounty,
before your fruit begins to drop.
May I find pleasure in your glut
when collecting up your ripened crop.

Chutney! Relish! Sauce! And pickle!
Jelly! Marmalade! Conserve!
Prepared and stored to last forever -
this autumn harvest I preserve.

The Mysterious Word

What is this word…?

The word like a hummer that breaks every yolk
The word like glue that seals blessings like a padlock
The word that created heavens and earth when He spoke
The word that conceals believers from their enemies like a cloak

The word like a double edged sword that pierces
Slaying darkness and its forces
The word that regulates behaviour and reinforces
Though some trust in chariots and some in horses
The word is the birth of all sources…of power

 It’s sweeter than honey
Nourishing souls like nutrients of a chutney
Giving hearts smiles like there is something funny
So important for life like a kidney

This word was there from the beginning
It was there with God shining
And this word is God himself brightening

Unfunny Things

You have to be born with a sense of humor
No one can teach you, it flows outta every pore
Seeing funny in unfunny
That tickles your chutney
Hilarious, makes you fall down chuckling to the floor

In the Beginning

The Lord he created the heavens and Earth,
the firmament, land sea and sky,
the flora, the fauna, and Adam and Eve
as the Bible says, but I ask why
does it not mention some of his finest designs
that we enjoy, living life to the full,
and without them all, life would not be a ball,
and in fact  would be terribly dull.
Like cheese and tomato, a great combination,
alone, without dressing, they're fine,
and chutney, that's one of his mightiest creations,
on Pork pie, like God, it's divine.
That apple that hung on the tree of all knowledge,
'don't eat it' was the only rider,
Adam and Eve got a taste, what a terrible waste,
would have been better off in a Cider.
Real Ale- an invention that's not got a mention
'till Monks brewed, though I do have a hunch
that after creation, day seven God rested,
sat down to a fine ploughman's lunch.

Summer Cooking For Slumber

SUMMER COOKING FOR SLUMBER 

At the edge of the Thar desert in a city
the simmering summer sun doesn’t set
before it blazes the day at 45 degree C.
On rock slab of backyard I can make an omelet.

Hungry, I enter instead the kitchen in a hurry
from the glare of the smoldering day sunny,
cook quick corn, cabbage and carrot curry,
to beat the heat eat with mango chutney.

For dinner under the sizzling starry sky,
yogurt drenched salad of cool cucumber
I make like an expert chef and eat with fish fry.
When the air cools I slip into summer slumber. 

July 9, 2018

The Saucy Pickle

I know I do this every time I think of you
I end up with a stiff little pickle and in a flipping mess
Now I know you think it’s saucy and like to have a laugh
But I’m the one with spicy piccalilli all over my flaming lap
I relish the challenge in being a pickle in a tight squeeze 
For this little pickle marinades himself in honey from a bee
You may think that a pickle and honey wouldn’t go together 
But I can rest assure you they are actually the spice of life
A condiment together, and though you chutney sometimes
I always relish dipping my little pickle in your honey pot
Can’t wait to savoury spread your legs and syrup my pickle in
For honey you are the sweetest dessert that there’s ever been.
 
ps: If you ever need to find me I’ll be in the supermarket isle - savouries and sauces.

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