SpouseSpeak: Food Rules

They married because--he cooked
"real" food, fresh leafy vegetables
peeled, sliced and chopped--none canned
served as mashed potatos, honeyed yams
and green, yellow, orange, beet-red things
to see, smell, taste, chew, swallow---slowly.

His de-evolution to frozen dinners he prefers
leaves her wanting. She misses--sustenance
not found in bagged hard broccoli, brussel sprouts
mixed peas and carrots. She subsists--unsatisfied
on lite cottage cheese, strawberry yogurt, cheeses
and bananas, but misses his courtly cooking ways.

He sees her sporting his favorite courted-cuter look
in time. While she sleeps, he prepares cauliflower
broccoli, potatoes, carrots, baked ham--from scratch.
Serving with a flourish, he wears his broad smile.
He may be slow in some spheres or without guile,
but he's no slouch. Timing is still a forte, his wile.

by Jeanne Khan

Jeanne Khan, audit agency executive, decided to learn to write by writing. She moved from Boston to LA area in 1982, and then married David La Plant, the subject of her first published poem, "Suspenders," in EbbTide Spring 1996, which embarrassed him a tad, but provoked interest in her writings. Feminist, atheist, humanist and cat rescuer, she holds literacy and human rights among other causes she supports. Her views are evidenced in many of her works, some on the home page and others at sites mentioned therein. She raised two children alone on her salary before marrying David who was raising his son alone. Her several summas include one earned at Northeastern University before she left the New England area. Hundreds of her poems may be found by a search on dejanews.com on rec.arts.poems newsgroup.