Prompt 16: Food is the Language

You knew how to seduce me,
who before we met
called carrots and hummus dinner.

Our first meal
was at a Korean restaurant
and introduced me to your quietly competitive nature
when it came to declaring victories over flavors
and the tongue you would share them with.

We mutually agreed,
without telling the other,
to never take each other for granted.
Our pet names for each other
punctuate every meal, and, yes,
I always ask for salad
just to hear you say,
“Agitate your greens.”

You are my superstar.
All the photos I take of you
won’t even begin to explore
every facet of who you are,
but capturing you in various moments
is something you’ve accepted
even though you always pull the same
silly look when you see me pointing
my phone camera at you.

Tell me the spices you’ll use tomorrow,
Tell me how you created the sauce for the pasta,
Tell me which method of roasting you’ll defend

You have my ears and my mouth.

8 thoughts on “Prompt 16: Food is the Language

  1. I love this one. Why? The first and last stanza and everything in between. Plus one of the cleverest bit of alliteration I’ve ever read: “at a KOREAN restaurant
    and introduced me to your QUIETLY COMPETITIVE”

    The camera stanza threw me off a bit because I was looking for the food reference to no avail. But the next stanza makes up for it.

    That last line — perfection!

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