For African-Americans "Soul Food" is very special. It is not the cooking of parents or grandparents that makes the gathering special rather it is the love that is shared between family and close friends. The down home cooking is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak rather it is a time to reflect on old memories and start new ones.This type of spirit inspired this poem. I hope that you enjoy.

Grease the black skillet
And fill it
With the batter
From the bowl
Enough to fill my soul
Add a hint of honey
Some butter or some cream
Do you know what I mean?

Give me that Corn Bread Love
The kind I am thinking of
The kind that fills you up
And never leaves your cup
Or your soul
Empty
Now that’s the kind of love for me
Add some candied yams
And some collard greens
Now do you see what I mean?

Cornbread Love
That is what I am thinking of
Enough to fill my soul
Warms me up whenever I am cold
It gives me something to hold
And something I can sink
My teeth in
Something to believe in
The kind of love that gently
Burn your fingertips
And makes you smile
Because it is music to your lips
Corn Bread Love
That’s what I am thinking of
Or better yet
You can make it
With some jiffy mix
Add some honey and a stick
Of butter or margarine
Do you know what I mean?
Now whip it quick until
It is smooth and thick
Now grease the
Black skillet
And fill it
With the batter
From the bowl
There is more than
Enough to fill my soul

I want some Corn Bread Love
That is what I am thinking of
That kind of love that fills you up
And never leaves your cup
Or your soul
Empty
Now that’s the kind of love for me

[This message was edited on 11-06-02 at 07:14 PM.]

is so damn good. I liked your poem it made me think of visiting my aunt and uncle and well also going to some of the menonite places around here. The food is always good when it is cooked in the south. And that is really what "soul food" is it is just good old home cooked southern food. The best are stewed tomatos. Yeah well now I am hungry for real food since I just ate crappy college food. Yeah and I liked the poem too.

"Hell and night must bring this monstrous birth to world's light" Iago. Othello 1.3
"He that filches me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed." Iago. Othello 3.3

Great, upbeat, warm, mouth-watering poem! It's nice to have those "comfort foods" that warm the heart and soul and body...that evoke pleasant memories...Nice job, Rico!

(p.s. candid yams should be candied yams?)

"There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not" La Rochefoucauld

Rico...

My sirloin steak turned out to be tough, and I didn't have candied yams for dinner...just a plain, old baked one, so being somewhat still hungry, your menu has me interested. I do, however, have a family pass-me-down black skillet. But the one who used to make good cornbread is gone, so that leaves me to vicariously relish what you eagerly offer.

The poem? Excellante, mon ami!!! I can just hear you earnestly touting the worth of cornbread love...you know what I mean?

Limn

Loved this one, Rico. Loved it a lot.

I make cornbread in a pan. No sugar. Tell me yours doesn't use sugar. And what is this line:

Or better yet
You can make it
With some jiffy mix

Jiffy mix? Oh, no! That's not cornbread love, that is a cornbread one-night stand. And you call yourself a southerner? Did they ever cook them in those cast iron forms that made them look like ears of corn? Now that was crisp all over and great with buttermilk.

Of course I jest, the food was just the excuse for my family as well. Not being African-American, we substituted pinto beans cooked for two days for the collard greens. In the South I came from nothing was ever green, just shades of dried out brown.

This poem was primo, Rico. Time for you to start submitting, I would say.

Nick

I can trace my lineage back to King Lear's fool, so it is genetic.
Nick

delicious. Everyone needs some corn bread love. I suggest daily servings.

-----
What's done can not be undone.
Lady MacB

Yes,the corn bread is king.Along with ham hocks and black eyed peas.This kind of meal never ceases to fill the soul with warmth and kindness to last just a day until you can have another helping.I think you solved my menu problem of the day.

Those who are mentally and emotionally healthy are those who have learned when to say yes,when to say no,and when to say whoopee! -Willard S. Krabill

love your poem and I love corn bread too

Rico,this lyrical work melts in the mouth as scrumptiously as its subject.

Thanks for another "slice of heaven".

We are all captives of the picture in our head -- our belief that the world we have experienced is the world that really exists.~Walter Lippman

I don't now if anyone could have said it any better. Got me hungry for some southern cooking! And then your structure, rhyme, and everything well...that "soul" style was deeply rooted in that too. I can feel this with a beat in its backdrop, but then all your work has that hidden beat going on somewhere in the background, doesn't it? What is it you call that Rico? The street beat? Well, if that's what it is...then it is definitely there. Good job. hey, pass the gravy!

From the desk of THE COLD POET

"Happiness is so rare that our minds will turn somersaults to protect it" -Hwang

Not only very well written, Rico - but about an absolutely delicious subject. (However I've now got the growlies.)

Ron
------------------------------
CHAOS, MAYHEM, PANIC IN THE STREETS! - My work here is done.

I'm not a big fan of cornbread (except with honey), grits, or gravy. And who ever heard of eating a biscuit for breakfast???

It does however remind me of a multitude of Thanksgivings and Christmas'. Thanks for sharing.

Harv

"nothing can we call our own but death, And that small model of the barren earth, Which serves as paste and cover to our bones." -Richard II Act III

click here!Try Me!

I know it's not anywhere near Thanksgiving, which is what this poem brings to mind (as well as other holidays/family gatherings), but its message is such a warm one I don't think it matters what time of year you read it! It brings about an "all-over" good feeling, so I thought I'd give it a bump on this hot August evening. This was always one of my favorites by you, Rico. You are truly a versatile writer!

"As you fluttered in my future,
fled throughout my lifelong past
I expected every spring to bring you
to my arms, to my side." from "I always knew" by Rod McKuen

Again LB, I have to thank you for bumping another great work by quoteland's very own great-rico!

This is ful"filling" for the soul! Bravo!

The optimist calling on a great pessimist "I believe that when death closes our eyes we shall awaken to a light, of which our sunlight is but the shadow." - Arthur Schopenhauer

Yummilicious, Rico! I do see what you mean; and the juxtaposition of such delicious food (which fills the stomach) with that of tender love (which fills the heart), is unique and very well expressed. Thank you for sharing; I wonder how I missed this the first time 'round!

Thanks for bumping this lostbutterfly!


--------Sanya--------

Stella Splendens
December 22, 1985-March 27, 2003
Rest In Peace
---
I found your picture today
I swear I'll change my ways
I just called to say I want you to come back home
I just called to say, I love you come back home (Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock)

This is the type of song/poem that I would listen to again and again because it's hearty, full-flavored verse just envelopes you completely. Makes you feel...safe and warm and mello.
Thanks!

Hey there Rico. Member me? HAH...probably not, but that's okay. It's been a while.
Moving on...like always I loved the poem. I'm in Culinary Arts & I know that cooking takes a lot more than just throwing ingredients together. You have to be creative & use your imagination & if your cooking for your family you put a bunch of love in there too.
MmMm...fewd!

Bridget
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Løvë can be the sweetest of Ю€ÃM§ or the worst of ñígh†mã®ê§." -William Shakespeare
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ю€ÃM like a poet, Løv€ like a child & Ðàñ©€ like no ones watching." -Bridget (RelentlessPoet)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Which "Natural Wonder" are you?

quote:

---

Do you know what I mean?

---

Uh huh! I think I do!
Rico, you are such a delight! Cornbread Love is the earthiest, soul-touching thing I have read in a l-o-n-g time. Got my lips smacking, my fingers itching to stir and my hips ready to shake by the stove.

To hell with no-carbs! I'm gonna make me some cornbread (with butter and cream!)

"Omigod!!!I am so much older than everyone here!"

I'm wondering if my reply will even be read. SO many people have already replied, but I may as well get my two cents in.
Awesome poem. Makes me want to go back to Alabama, and get me some cornbread. Aw, great. Now I'm hungry.
Keep up the poems, and we'll keep up the replying.

I bumped this back in the summer just because it is one of my favorite Rico poems. I now bump it to be shared by all for the warmth and comfort and feeling of family it projects as we approach Thanksgiving week. Happy Thanksgiving to all on WP...you are truly a wonderful extended family!

"If a man should pick me wildflowers, he would hold my heart forever" J.