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Poem by Lauren Camp

11/28/2021

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Savoring

I arrived at her house with absence 
and sadness, pliant with fear. Stood 
beside avocadoes and Doc’s
special chicken, cold on a plate,
as she pulled circles of dough outward
and flipped them to bows, 
making something called taiglech, 
which she dropped like bullets into hot-
bubbled honey. Nearly midnight, 
she let me be tired, but I stirred 
and she whisked until we were trading 
in syrup, our hands sticky and gesturing 
above boiled nectar. We shaped 
conversation in the noise of particulars, 
the complexion of night, and grease-
ripe pleasures left to dry on white 
paper towels. The dark-haired woman 
smiled loosely and I listened – 
to her, instead of my maelstrom 
of worry. Everything I needed was seeped 
in phrases about menus and tables 
and long loaves of bread. All that happened 
was cooking, the room so alive 
with acts of alchemical desire, 
where dark didn’t froth. In that place, 
that October, where I tasted sweet 
with my dad’s new lover, where she 
tempted me back to my assertive sense 
by asking nothing, where she let me retreat 
and consume both the ginger and honey, 
and kept me away from the burn 
while extending the sugar.

This poem was first published in The Perch. ​
Audio recording of the poem can be found here: 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/j5brmp7sun5hdhy/L.%20Camp-Savoring.mp3?dl=0
Picture
Lauren Camp is the author of five books, most recently Took House (Tupelo Press). Honors include the Dorset Prize and a finalist citation for the Arab American Book Award. Her poems have appeared in Poetry International, Witness and Kenyon Review, and been translated into Mandarin, Turkish, Spanish, and Arabic. www.laurencamp.com

​

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    About

    The poems that follow are powerful evidence that Poetry Speaks Back to Hunger!

    They were submitted to the 2021 World Food Day Special Call for Poems from North American Poets.  Several of these poems will be showcased in the coming weeks by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Capital Area Food Bank.  

    Thanks to poets Josephine LoRe (Alberta, Canada), Brian Donnell James (Virginia, USA) and Martiza Rivera (Maryland, USA) for helping to assess the poems.  Thanks also to Rebecca Roach for donating nearly 1200 tree seedlings on behalf of the poets who submitted work.  And, a big thanks to poet Aaron R who helped to administer the Special Call. ​

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  • Home
  • Art Auction to Alleviate Hunger
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    • World Food Day Poetry Competition >
      • 2021
      • 2020
      • 2019
      • 2018
    • Maryland Poets
    • International Poets
  • About
    • About the Initiative
    • Initiative Founder
    • Advisory Board
  • News & Blog
  • Young!
    • Poems by Young Poets
    • Videos
    • Materials for Teachers
  • Library
    • Extent of Hunger >
      • Global Hunger: Progress & Challenges
      • Hunger in the US
    • Historic Accounts of Hunger >
      • Africa
      • The Americas
      • Asia
      • Europe and Russia
    • Historical Poems
    • Interviews
    • Recent highlights
  • Contact/Submit/Take Action
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Call to Action
    • Resources & Donations >
      • Global resources
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