So Enchanted with You

I heard this poem read by the author, 66 year old Nikki Giovanni, on The Splendid Table and it caught my fancy. I think we all need a little more poetry in our lives...poetry we can understand. In the interview she said, "I love a love poem, makes me smile...I mean there's nothing sillier on earth than falling in love."

I like

Boiled turnips

Boil potatoes

Boiled rutabagas

with butter

and sea salt

But not every day

I like

Fried Virginia flounder

Fried sand dabs

Fried smelts

But usually only on Friday nights

I want

Drop biscuits

Miniature Parker House rolls

Extra thin white bread

When I uncharacteristically

make a sandwich

I like

Garlic straight off the vine

Anchovies any time

And good red wines

'cause I'm too old

to drink cheap

I like to pound and grill my veal

I rub my beef

In a special chili mixture

I really don't eat

anyone else's ground meat

In other words:

I'm Normal

So this is the question:

Why am I so enchanted

with you

I love that food and love are so mixed up here, cause really they always are for me. Before we dated I would lure The Man into hanging out with promises of chocolate chip waffles. I think he fell in love with those before he fell in love with me. I still love cooking for him; coming up with dinners that supprise and please him while still living within our budget, pouring over sale papers, blogs and recipie books to concoct the perfect menu for the week, and glowing when he takes pride in these little gifts of mine. I never eat as well when he is gone; things are always so hurried, and cooking for me has turned into a way to show him how much I love him. It seems empty when he is gone. Many things do. Say a prayer for The Man though, there are tests today and he's been running fever for almost a day now. Lord willing we'll be together tommorrow, and I can baby him to my heart's content.