A is for the aisle I wandered in Dollar General with a basket in my hands: Alphabet Soup stood there, waiting for me. Closing my hands around the can, I took another three, then the remaining four. Different friends came to mind with Each passing moment: long walks home with friends who would join me for lunch. Gooey grilled cheese sandwiches and alphabet soup had us giggling and spelling out words in those years of learning for fun, not for a job or promotion or certificate but rather for the joy of -- nope, nope, nope, No K in this bowl learning and making friends and exploring my world through books, bus rides, shops, neighbors, and long afternoons of dreams. Of course, I knew I was growing too old as the gold years flew by. Perhaps I could hold on, however, for just a moment as quiet magic (the best kind) stopped time. It happened, really it did, that afternoon I went walking and stepped inside the store with everything just for me. Touching the jumpropes, plastic flowers, and pinwheels helped me understand the great wisdom of slowly slurping each wonderful spoonful of soup after forming words in a game, an X bringing extra points, of course. Years vanish when I eat this lovely soup. Zillions of childhood memories come all at once with each bowl.
This took me right back to 9 years old, Jan. Lovely how you maneuver through the cones of the alphabet so deftly, still managing solid images and turns!
Why, thank you, dear Britton!
Upon thinking of food from childhood, I decided to employ a childhood writing lesson, too. All of the images returned so clearly as well. It was fun to remember and then write.
Amazing poem! I love the style, theme and creativity. Good job!
Thank you, Maritza. In Colombia do you have similar soups like this childhood favorite here in the United States?
Yes, Jan. We have a letter soup (sopa de letras). I took so much time playing with it that Mom stopped making me this soup. You made me laugh.
This is such a unique, cool poem!! Thank you for sharing this, this is great work.
Thank you, Angel.
As I read this aloud, I laughed gently thinking that I needed to find my childhood poems (Mom saved them) and revisit my childhood hopes and joys. I look forward to reading your poems.
I’ve seen other poems with this sort of ordering before and they often end up being rigid or not quite on point, but you negotiate the boundaries you’ve set here deftly and with great skill. Well done! I never could find a K either . . .
Why, thank you, Tracy. Revisions needed, of course, but I had great fun writing this, and images came so clearly. Thank you for noticing the “K” reference. I’m looking forward to reading your poems.
Amazing craft!! Creative penning!!
Thank you, Divya!
well this was so quirky and lovely.. nicely done Jan.. loved how it flowed 🙂
Quirky and lovely — hey, you really DO know me! (gentle smile) The poem — acrosstic? acrostic? — comes from elementary school memories, too. I have been having fun reading about others’ childhood foods, too.
Love this trip down memory lane. A slower pace to life, taking time to notice the little things we forget. The little things that are really much larger in life-the big world, friends giggling, exploring, jump ropes and pinwheels.
Truly an amazing poem. Very creative writing style. You made this flow so effortlessly and smooth. I wanted to suggest a nice word that starts with K that I think you may like too…”Kite” kite flying is a lovely childhood memory that could somehow fit.
Thank you for that suggestion. Yes, “kite” is a wonderful word for that missing “K” but more so for childhood memories.