Poems

Hello!

In my English class, I search two poems that is related to food. I will explain the poem, the message inside, and also about the poet.

The first one is "Coca-cola and Coco frio" by Martin Espada.

Coca-Cola and Coco Frio

On his first visit to Puerto Rico,

island of family folklore,

the fat boy wanderd 

from table to table

wih his mouh open.

At every table, some great-aunt

would steer him with cool spotted hands

toa glass of Coca-Cola.

One even sang to him, in all the English

she could remember, a Coca-Cola jingle

from the forties. He drank obediently though

he was bored with this potion, familiar

from soda fountains in Brooklyn.

Then at roadside stand off the beach, the fat boy

opened his mouth to coco frio, a coconut

chilled, then scalped by a machete

so that a straw could inhale the clear milk.

The boy tilted the green shell overhead

and drooled coconut milk down his chin;

suddenly, Puerto Rico was not Coca-Cola

or Brooklyn, and neither was he.

For years afterward, the boy marveled at an island

where the people drank Coca-Cola

and sang jingles from World WarⅡ

in a language they did not speak,

while so many coconuts in the trees

sagged heavy with milk, swollen

and unsuckled.

Meaning:

When the boy first visited Puerto Rico, he walked from table to table with his mouth open. At every table, his great aunt guided him to a glass of Coca-Cola with her cool, speckled hands. One sang the Coca-Cola jingle from the '40s to him in English for as long as he could remember. He obediently drank it, tired of this familiar drink from Brooklyn's soda fountains.

Then, at a roadside stand on the beach, the fat boy sipped on a Coco Frio. It was a coconut, chilled, peeled with a machete, and sucked through a straw into the clear milk. Suddenly, Puerto Rico was no longer Coca-Cola or Brooklyn, and neither was the boy.

For years afterward, the boy marveled at an island where people drank Coca-Cola, sang World War II jingles in a language they did not speak, and had plenty of coconuts among the trees.

The poet is Martin Espada. He was born in 1957. He is the author of more than twenty books as a poet, editor, essayist, and translator. 

 

The second poem is "Ode to Chicken" by Kevin Young.

Ode to Chicken

You are everything 

to me. Frog legs, 

rattlesnake, almost any

thing I put my mouth to

reminds me of you.

Folks always try

getting you to act

like you someone else-

nuggets, or tenders, fingers

you don't have-but even 

your unmanicured feet

taste sweet. Too loud 

in the yard, segregated

dark & light, you are

like a day self-contained-

your sunset skin puckers

like a kiss. Let others

put on airs-pigs graduate

to pork, bread

becomes toast, even beef

was once just bull

before it got them degrees-

but, even dead,

you keep your name

& head. You can make

anything of yourself,

you know-but prefer

to wake me early

in the cold, fix me breakfast

& dinner too, leave me

to fly for you.

Meaning:

This poem is written to be odes to the foods, but they are really odes to Kevin Young's father who passed away that year.

The poet Kevin Young is a contemporary American poet and also a teacher. He worked as the director of the Smithsonian Instisution National Museum of African American History and Culture. His poetry has been included in a wide array of publications.

 

Thank you for reading.