Fun With Food

FROM A CHICKEN SHACK TO A POULTRY PALACE
when I eat wings my brother
such wings so fine to dine
such meat my mind remembers
in fricaseed and fried Septembers
just when a late lunch seems over
General Tso’s chicken pours down my gullet
when I eat those wings my brother
such wings from any poultry pullet

such meat as turkey, pheasant, and chickens
when their roasting aroma hits my nose
and fills my appetites sensation
with cholesterol free elation
then my heart stops and sickens
with fear the store may close
where I buy those delicious chickens
some roasted, some fried, some froze

we sons and daughters of carnivores
who enjoy eating animal legs and wings
what animal that walks we’ll eat it
with grass, hay, and corn we’ll feed it
“free birds fly higher than freemen”
wander wild the moose, deer, and boars
we sons and daughters of carnivores
still enjoy eating animal legs and wings

with Buffalo wings and special sauce
dinner bells ring for every girl and boy
turkey thighs hot right out of the oven
candied yams and giblet gravy to shove in
a fresh spinach salad to garnish and toss
pies of custard and pumpkin bring joy
with Buffalo wings and special sauce
dinner bells ring for every girl and boy

THE ELVISH PRETZEL

the Elvish Pretzel had dough that was squiggly
an oaf of a loaf of lounge lizard proportions
twas baked in the image of Pelvish Wriggly
you had to love its tender distortions

and once reaching the perfect temperature
it got up from its baking pan and strolled
past light crust doughboys who for sure
liked those sticky buns being sold

beyond carrot cakes and banana crean pies
through the marble halls of Memphis malls
near jelly donuts and candy bars to despise
small spas selling mini fountains of Niagara Falls

where shops full of Titanic ties and Gordian knots
bind us all to the myth of the Sisyphean orb
for fun in the sun during cold spells and hots
with as many hot dogs and buns as we can absorb

it tried garlic mayonnaise and maple marinade
with TV’s Emeril and Martha twisting on the spit
sipping flavonoid flavored lemonade
at a shish kebab marathon in a BBQ pit

popping corn and chewing Chinese sesame seed
talking cold turkey burgers, telling fat turkey tales
French’s mustard said we just may need
‘Bright’ ideas if proof in the plum pudding fails

beyond parade ground picnic or tailgates tonight
the French fried onion rings all scream
for ketchup, catsup, and malt vinegar light
dessert is almond biscotti with spumoni ice cream

it moved on to the chops – lamb, pork, and karate
skipping all those salads so green
about Atkins diet its belief was shoddy
so it went for gaseous portions of baked bean

sweet Walla Walla onions and mung bean sprouts
were overflowing a blue corn taco so dear
about the salsa there were some doubts
so it was washed down with a lime and beer

yellow squash blossom tempura fritters
gobs of goat and sheep cheese galore
anchovy pasta for the critters and quitters
it chewed that squid till its gums were sore

creamy cheese dollops of pimento macaroni
hot chicken mole’ in a cast iron pan
burping up the funky old cold baloney
was the buiscuit and red eyed gravy man

the Elvish Pretzel is now long gone
keeping those double fudge brownies at bay
and putting on pounds on the summer lawn
during this amazing grace land holiday