A Poem as Lovely as Green Tea

I was reminded as I read yesterday's poem from The Writer's Almanac (Pie by X.J. Kennedy) that the essense of the culinary arts is probably best translated through the lens of the other arts.

The pure joy of a summer peach, the sorrow of a scoop of ice cream melting into the gravel — these experiences are just too sensual, too ethereal, too emotional to express within the boundaries of AP-styled journalistic prose. This is work meant for painters, poets and composers.

My favorite food poems? Glad you asked. It's all about the love for me. I favor Lear's "The Owl & the Pussycat," Pablo Neruda's food odes (in particular his "Oda al Tomate") and this one by William Carlos Williams... so simple, sweet, and filled with heart:

This Is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold