Sample: Ode to Rice

Ode to Rice

.

my mother refuses to rinse

the vitamins or dirt from your skin

so your grains chatter

like dry teeth

as she pours you into the cooker

one part short grain jasmine rice

one part water for you to drink down

.

in the cooker you bubble

content to bathe in boiling water

happy to feel it seep

through your skin

until you emerge

soft as your brothers

and sisters did

over open fires

for thousands of years

.

your individual grains gleam

refined in vegan cafes

your rounded bowls steam

in Chinese restaurants

you lend yourself

to burritos

and flour for sweet pastel mochi

.
You wait

fluffy under sweet mangoes

beside fried chicken

soggy in jook as you mush

down into porridge

wait to warm my stomach

.

O complex carbohydrate

I want you to filter

down through my biceps

to fingertips to thighs

I want to feel the energy

of a thousand generations

coursing through my veins

..

Molly Higgins (c) 2009