Cook These Poems

One day while researching poetry exercises for my poetry class, I came upon the idea of Recipe Poems. This exercise asked the poet to think of a food recipe and write a poem around it, about it, incorporating it - however it would work. I loved the idea, as there is nothing I love more than poetry, except for food! So I wrote my first Recipe Poem. Being a vegetarian, of course, I was not going to use a recipe for chicken cacciatore. I fell in love with writing Recipe Poems and turned to the Internet for finding recipes. I Googled "Vegetarian Recipes" and found a ton of ideas. Some of those recipes were from various countries around the world and made for even more fascinating ideas for poems. The recipes and "facts" (like the history of potatoes) fond in these poems are true, and following the directions should result in preparing the actual dish being written about. I used my imagination to make up the stories that are told in each poem. They are not necessarily "true" stories, thought some are based in true facts. But mostly, I tried to imagine emotional themes that would tie in with the food being prepared, like the tears in the "Oregano Baked Onions" and a sick old man in "Old-fashioned Vegetable Barley Soup."
About the Author: John Vincent Palozzi was born in Rochester, New York, where he lived until he left for the University of Buffalo, where he earned a B.A. in Psychology. He also held a teaching certificate and planned to start a teaching career in Florida after escaping from the harsh cold of Buffalo in 1972. Unfortunately things did not work out for him as planned, as he could not find a teaching position, so he worked many different jobs over the years to keep the mortgage paid. John has always been a writer and an artist in his heart. He wrote his first poems at age thirteen upon entering high school, and had several published in the literary magazine, of which he was on the staff. At U.B. John was a frequent poet at readings and coffee houses. He studied poetry at U.B. and has a minor in Literature. After moving to Florida, he continued writing, eventually becoming the President of Poets of the Palm Beaches, which office he maintained for seventeen years, and still remands on the Board of Directors. He also taught many poetry classes as part of the Adult Education Program in several public schools, and privately at various places around Palm Beach County. He has had several poems win awards throughout the years from various organizations, including the Nation Federation of State Poetry Associations. Mr. Palozzi still teaches poetry and hosts a monthly poetry critique workshop.