My day is sourmilk,
and inky clouds of drizzling misery;
it’s death and greed of sooted news;
a cup of tea and orange juice;
cottage cheese and rhubarb jam;
redolent of summer breeze
with sweetness of a ticklish sun.
In shadowplay of singing woods
I close my eyes and flo-o-o-at
to laziness beside the mountain creek
as cloud plays peek-a-boo
with warmth on the electric blue
through muslin curtain’s whitish mesh
I’m dancing barefoot on the mossy softness
adorned with dewy rhinestones
on grey-green hues of rhubarb jam.
I turn to ashen paper news again
but having found the strength to face
November teeth of carnivores.
My day is sourmilk and rhubarb jam.
Today Abhra want us to write about our local food and what it means to us at dVerse poetics. We have preserved a little summer as rhubarb jam, that can bring small flashbacks to summer for us. There are more food here as well but this is what came to mind first.
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Björn Rudbergs writings 
Bjorn, There are some foods that do remind us of summer. My mother used to make rhubarb dessert. Well written. 🙂 — Suzanne
Yes.. especially if it’s homemade
so loved the shadow play in the singing wood… the whole piece is light and carefree… great job… i was taken up in the verse and totally forgot about the food end…LOL
I think an item of food can take your thought many ways..
Bjorn – a darkness here is palpable, perhaps it’s the season. Hope you are well.
Only seasonal mood.. that make the news extra dark.. 🙂
Glad to hear – we have our first snow today. Still I rode my bicycle to work… foolish defiance…
We have no snow.. but I will ride my bike to work throughout winter.. soon time to change tires to studded tires.
cool ( not literally 🙂 )
You really hooked me with your opening.
Thank you.. to be honest I like sourmilk.. 🙂
hmmm… i love rhubarb jam… even more with some strawberries… i like how you use the food as indicator for mood here as well… and dancing barefoot…hey… that sounds wonderful
Thank you.. 🙂 We have this little splash of summer to breakfast every morning.. mmm strawberries together.. that sounds wonderful
Wow, beautiful – I didn’t think of such lovely surprise from my prompt, looking forward to a lot of varieties from all tonight…..I have never tasted rhubarb jam, but in jams blueberry is my fav 🙂
Rhubarb has a very nice tart in it’s sweetness that does wonders on a Sandwich.
Your closing stanza is killer, brother; & what a great way to use the prompt. Your free verse becomes stronger weekly; this is a fine poem, especially after thrice-read; it has a lusty, strong aura to it, yet beneath the drama, there are delicious whiffs of whimsy & slathers of rhubarb jam; by the by, rhubarb & strawberry pie is one of my favorites.
I wanted to write it in terms of a flasback.. something I think we will come back to .. pss pss.–
Cottage cheese, sour milk and rhubarb jam – do you know that the jam and the sour milk are almost impossible to find in the UK (unless you make them yourself)? So there you go: great cultural differences rising to the fore already…
Rhubarb jam is homemade.. but sourmilk you have in more than 20 varieties .. when I lived abroad I replaced the sourmilk with yoghurt…
Ah, it’s not quite the same…
First thing I do when I go home to Romania is get myself some sour milk, kefir, buttermilk and so on…
You would find many of those here too.. a great variety of cultured milk…
Nicely done — loved the images to give us strength to read bad news!
Carefree and lovely. My grandmother and mom used to make jam 🙂
Food conjures forth such a plethora of memories – in a way, touchstones of the days of our life. I’ve heard it said: happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast. At any rate, it’s a good start.
There is no jam as good as rhubarb jam. My mother used to make it. I never developed the talent unfortunately.
This rhubarb jam – really something special …with such a description and sour milk, of course.. Fun!
loved the sour milk and rhubarb jam..breakfast a lot..:)
That is some really delicious imagery 🙂
I love this poem..great metaphorss
Mmmm I haven’t had rhubarb in such a long time. I used to love it as rhubarb and gooseberry pie (with lashings of custard).
Mmm. I can taste this – well not the sour milk – the pie. I do like me some homemade rhubarb pie. Straight rhubarb, not the strawberry/rhubarb mix some others do. It really is a summer thing isn’t it?
Breakfast is indeed my favourite meal of the day! And I admit, I had absolutely no idea what is rhubarb! Must go and scavenge!
Love the subtleties you have used across the poem –
I’m dancing barefoot on the mossy softness
adorned with dewy rhinestones
on grey-green hues of rhubarb jam.
Nice!
I liked the divergent thought behind sour milk. For some (who hate it) your poem will read one way. For some (who like it) it will read another. Poetic justice when the poem lands in the readers lap all convertible like that. Thanks.
I think this may be my new favorite of yours, Bjorn. My grandmother used to make the most delicious rhubarb crisp…jam sounds delicious too.