Poem about food

OK... so we talked this morning about writing about food. I think I will share a poem that my writing group is going to look at today. Tell me what you think and let's discuss why this one works (or doesn't work).

Lemon Cake

First you need great bowls

and a big spoon. Measuring

is easier with Nana’s teacups

the ones graduated

to your kitchen after her funeral.

It was all you wanted.

She used no recipe for lemon cake, 

taught you to measure the heft 

of flour in your palm, to see 

how much lemon juice fills

the teacups, to know a pinch

from a smidgeon just by feel. 

A pinch of cardamom, one 

of nutmeg, a dusting of poppy seeds

over the wet mixture. She mixed

clockwise, said the sun travels

that way and helps the mixture

to rise just so to the rim of the pans.

For frosting, a package 

of softened cream cheese, a splash

of vanilla and one of lemon juice.

Whip in half a hand of sugar  
with the egg beater she got

as a wedding present in 1926.

Later, sitting in your chair by the window,

listening to the rain come in gasps,

you will know her love is in the recipe

she never wrote, the one pressed 

into your hands, hands she taught 

and in the teacup you use tonight for tea.


Smell the lemons, smell her verbena.

— Carol 2011

You can see that this poem is in the second person "you," a reasonable strategy for taking the obvious "I" out and making the poem more universal. It is so even if a reader doesn't have a "Nana." The "you" brings the reader INTO the poem.