"plantain" poems
Symbol: The goat
Opposite Sign: Cancer
Meaning: The achiever
Modality: Cardinal
Element: Earth
Ruling House: The tenth
Ruling Body: Saturn
Motto: I build
Birthstone: Garnet
Color: Brown
Metal: Silver
Flower: Carnation
Fragrance: Spearmint
Lucky Day: Saturday
Numbers: 3, 4, 9
Lucky Colors: Red, Pink, Purple, Blue
Lucky Flowers: Cyclamen, Plantain lily, Fittonia
Capricorn is: persevering, patient, conventional, practical and disciplined. Capricorn can be practical, unemotional, sober, orderly, controlling and manipulative.
Dec 4, 2015
Dec 4, 2015 at 1:25 AM UTC
The rainy season is at
The door once again,
And loneliness has
Brought me a new pillow,
But who is to defend
My repugnant soul?
Can it be the Gods?
Hear this! The rain has
Began knocking at my
Slammer door gradually,
Oh no, it is knocking
And wailing so heavily,
With his icy voice
Of storm and cold
Arresting my hearty dreams,
But I will retch at his smell
And hurry for my handkerchief,
Where is my lantern?
May be, the native doctor
Has the answer to the
Cylindrical jar containing
Her eternal juniper organs,
Indeed, it is my misfortune
To go about with the priest,
For even the child of
The priest even dies at noon,
Ah, I thought she was
Vigilant and ever-ready
To make the debtors
Chew the palm kernels,
But she became the
Portion of the exterior of
The *** that skin can cover,
I have lost my heaven,
Oh no, I have lost the
One whose neck is like a
Bunch of small-fingered plantain,
I have lost the whetstone
On which I sharpen
My thirsty sword to
Perform deeds of valour,
Let the Gods weep!
Let the ancestors wail!
Let the people of Africa,
Give me condolence of
The talking drums,
For their child is gone,
The wise woman who cut
Her thumb in order to get
A wise husband is dead,
Mother, the Okro full of
Seeds of children and literature,
Efua Sutherland, the queen,
The toad likes water, but not
When the water is boiling,
Send me something
When someone is coming,
Efua Sutherland, the queen,
You and I exchange gift.
© PRINCE NANA ANIN-AGYEI
Email: [email protected]
Apr 8, 2013
Apr 8, 2013 at 5:58 AM UTC
(haikus)
eggs aren't done yet,
deep frying oil sizzles loud,
my eyes meet pale red,
i anxiously taste
Korean strawberries......but,
..........eagerly, i sniff,
home smells of....fried rice,
garlic...coffee...petrichor,
sweet scents...wafting 'round.
(10w)
youTube plays
Moondance by Van Morrison
shoulders sway...fingers tap.
i glow...while singing
with Don Mclean's
Starry Starry Night.
strangers knock, looking for never-heards,
at six AM?
very extraordinary!
then guards
warn us of strangers,
a bit too late!
clatter of china says,
table's ready...
wait...
rain is pouring!
where're you,
Creedence Clearwater?
have you ever seen the rain?
gosh....the dogs again!
...chased away
both cat and kittens :-(
(14 lines)
the table...now speaks loudly
of perfect sunny-side-ups
mushroom omelet with sliced sausages
there's toasted bread......fried rice,
and fried plantain bananas, too,
all steaming hot......the aroma
......of arabica........brewing...
the many unexpected moments
that keep popping out of the blue
create a palette of bright colors
and moods for this new day...
i await more of these "unexpecteds,"
this flow of eclectic poetry
really knocks me off my feet :))
Sally
Copyright April 23, 2017
Rosalia Rosario A. Bayan
May 5, 2017
May 5, 2017 at 9:36 PM UTC
this is the first time i ate
a watermelon, like i did today...
it's going way back
back to the times we
were apparently apes...
so there's this gorilla
sitting on a windowsill,
with diced watermelon pulp...
oh wait, what's in his bowl?
the outer-layer,
including the hard skin
of the watermelon...
you're ********
he's eating that too?
what, ever see a gorilla
peel a banana to get a
babushka jew-head out
from the outer layer?
(insinuating circumcision)
gorilla eats the whole thing!
and he's sitting there,
insinuating: fibre...
excess chewing,
keeps the dentist away...
so between chewing on the outer
layer of the watermelon
(including the hard skin) -
he drops pieces of diced watermelon
pulp into his gob, to water
the chewing dynamic...
what? you do it with apples
and pears, and cherries, and grapes...
the gorilla says:
fun experience...
intermission of a gulp of beer...
it's hard to imagine a gorilla
being the size that he is,
having the cullinary skills
of saying: oi! oi!
don't fry that plantain!
eat it raw!
half an hour it took him to chew
through the red pulp and the outer
layer...
and he thought:
**** as painful on the jaws
as i might have chewed a gum
for 2 hours.
Jun 10, 2017
Jun 10, 2017 at 12:06 PM UTC
Today is my sister's wedding
A full day for me to shine
In my peacock green dress
The new full skirt and blouse
With golden laces and pearls
Full of laughter and music
House being crowded with
Close relatives and guests
With three of my cousins
Was standing near a table with
A plate of rock candies and raisins
Bowl of sandalwood paste
Me, spraying the fragrant rose
Water on guests with a smile
Welcoming them to the function
Stage was ready with a para,
A traditional measuring instrument
Filled with paddy, unmilled rice
Decorated with a bouquet of
Beautiful coconut flowers
Lighted bell metal traditional
Lamp,the large nilavilakku
With its glowing light was a
Pleasant vision to the eyes
Can see you all in the front row
Can hear the laughter of girls
With the groom's arrival
Girls,with thaalam,antique
plates with a lamp, lemons
And garland of flowers
Welcoming the groom to the stage
Bride, in her maroon saree with
Golden laces,tied hair decorated
With a ball of jasmine flowers
And shining gold ornaments
Covered from head to toe
Being accompanied by two aunties
Making her sit near the groom
Gorgeous romantic pair were they
With a heart full smile of their day
Exchanged their garlands and
Were given a flower bouquet
Groom tying a knot,a chain with
Thali, which was a pendant
Showering flowers on the
Bride and groom as a blessing
One by one to the stage giving
Wishes and gifts to the couple
Wonderful snaps with my
Sister and new brother-law
Time for lunch on a plantain leaf
Steamed rice, varieties of curries,
Fried items and the special
Sweet payasam with pappadam
Bride and groom sharing their
Lunch with love and laughter
Leaving to her in-laws house
With her eyes filled and red
One by one leaving the hall
Except the dear and near ones
With an after war expression
Tired were they,my parents
But happy to get their daughter
Married to the right guy
It's time to rest and wait for
The albums and videos with anxiety
In seeing my new dress and smile !
Jul 3, 2016
Jul 3, 2016 at 4:07 PM UTC
I am a bunch of grapes
Squeeze me into juice
And drink me to quench your thirst
I am a tasty plantain
Peel me and swallow
Me to satiate your hunger
I am a jasmine flower
Suck my nectar
Like a buzzing bee
I am huge mountain
Climb me like a mountaineer
And reach the highest peak
I am a deep valley
And ****** deep into me
To fathom my inexplicable beauty
I am a pure ******
Don’t miss my eternal kiss
Hug me like a hissing snake
And have the divine bliss
Feb 14, 2011
Feb 14, 2011 at 2:56 AM UTC
I was on a plantain branch
Cra cra… Cra cra.. Craa..
She put her bangles on a rock
Cra cra… Cra cra.. Craa..
Glimpse of gold, shined my eyes
Cra cra… Cra cra.. Craa..
I took it and flew back home
Cra cra… Cra cra.. Craa..
A cry of fury trembling hut,
I wonder why she made that fuss.
With a bit of twinge I shout,
“One I took, three with you!”
Still her rage in frenzy mood,
Crowd is fanning flames to grow,
In my nest it shine and rest,
Golden bangles shining lust.
Then I went back looking around,
To watch the jokers in a run,
But my eyes in surprise hunt,
The bustle of hut in deep slumber.
Oh! Again this gold will turn
me a golden queen of crows.
Another bangle on the rock,
I took it and flew back home.
What a foolish bird I’m!
Fallen on their tricky trap.
They found my nest and climbed up tree,
My two bangles went with them.
Jul 23, 2020
Jul 23, 2020 at 5:02 AM UTC
Grandma made plantain fu-fu
On the fire hearth.
A big iron skillet of hot coconut oil.
Her hands were gnarled and knobby. But.
Oh they knew the way.
Mashed green bananas and special. Salt season.
Dropped lightly . In fried to gold.
Out and rolled with a green glass bottle then.
Deep fry again.
Hot plantain fu-fu.
In coconut oil.
Hello Africa.
Kenya.
Nigeria.
Sweet and nice.
Nov 18, 2012
Nov 18, 2012 at 2:57 PM UTC
when i last met her
her ******* were bursting with seeds
her thighs plump as stems of plantain
and when in the December sun
she dried her hair behind the acacia
i dreamed of lying with her on the grass
drunk in the moaning song from her navel
till the evening drove us cold and old
and darkness stole her flesh from my eyes
and it's almost December again
as she walks with my hands in her
along the field after crop
just tugging my hand once to stop
delicately drawing from her breast
an Agfa snap of two unreal people
in the most unlikely place
looking awestruck into the lens
passing into the evening light
before leaving me halfway
of her cottage and a home.
Nov 29, 2016
Nov 29, 2016 at 5:54 AM UTC
*Enchanting festival of Onam
With colourful flowers of art
Relishing dishes on plantain leaves
Different dance forms of culture
Togetherness of humanity
Men with women in traditional outfit
Welcoming the King Mahabali
To our God's own country
Blessing the country's prosperity
Peace with happiness deep from the heart!*
Sep 13, 2016
Sep 13, 2016 at 5:50 AM UTC
Sailing away on a luxury liner
Packing your bags and eloping to China
Building a castle and digging a moat
These are all things you can't do with a goat
Any assortment of wrapping and bagging
Over the fireplace or under the lagging
In your pyjamas, in Tupperware boxes
These are all places that irritate foxes
An onion, a carrot, a plantain or mango
A tikka kebab and a bottle of tango
A handful of pencils, a flaming baton
These are all things that won't fit in a swan
Pet shops and grocers and stationary suppliers
Takeaways, rivers and all kinds of fires
P&O; cruises, kebab shops, IKEA
These are all places I'm not allowed near...
**
Feb 4, 2015
Feb 4, 2015 at 1:17 PM UTC
the blood on this dental floss is muito rico!
i must write all about it;
that’ll show em.
{espero!}
but what will she think of it?
i think i'd like to be stuck to her,
like a plantain peel on a naked shore.
two giggling morons
under a chocolate moon.
{suspiro...}
yet i’m stuck in didactic verse.
in a winterland.
knitting sonnets about
oral hygiene
and shaky hands.
back in bed now,
the words start to come together:
“Scatter my ashes in Dublin, Ohio
or the Bronx Zoo!"
I’m all over the place this morning.
Jan 4, 2016
Jan 4, 2016 at 8:13 AM UTC
Don't be like the Plantain tree
That rips it's leaves as though it has had a violent lover
Be like the Iroko tree
Tall and intimidating
As people sweat at its splendor
May they sweat at yours
Sep 14, 2016
Sep 14, 2016 at 1:59 AM UTC
*Wish this life was so easy
Like raindrops sliding through plantain leaves
Without any attachment to the leaf
Giving a chance for the next to move on
Never pausing to look back how it happened
Leaving emotions that controls mind
Wearing a smile of victory
For completing a life without disappointment*
Jun 12, 2017
Jun 12, 2017 at 10:58 PM UTC
Fearing the chronic angers of that house,
pushing every feeling out
The stool, standing tall, under my feat, the seat
Holding me high, eye to eye, with my Father’s
My bed, safety lately, where I’d rather be, alone/
The rocking chair creaks as
Plantain chips crackle and wreak in an oil sheet.
Table cover creased, arrangements around
The feast. The yelling begins and will not cease.
And small hands folded in lap, while
Tears leak out both eyes, slowly
on the right and left cheek, left to weep.
Wanting so much to move,
and rain outside fell too.
Jul 26, 2013
Jul 26, 2013 at 6:53 PM UTC
I dreamt a dream of child soldiers and blood
A boy small and stout laying motionless on the grass
His little body covered by plantain leaves
His shoes swallowed by debris
The songs of the ancestors long forgotten as their tune is swallowed by the cry of battle and ******
Nameless boys and innocent stolen girls
Graves with no tombstones
And commanders with no rules
This is war
Jan 9, 2016
Jan 9, 2016 at 8:42 AM UTC
*Raindrops falling like pearls on her neck
Sun shines like the dazzling of her nose ring
Breeze is the air, she breathes out
Moon smiles like her glowing eyes
Blooming lotus of her smiling lips
Plantain stems of her hands and legs
Crawling snakelike is her move
Icing sugar as sweet like her voice
Milk with saffron is her colour
Every beauty comes out of her
She is the beauty of God's creation
Admiring her from far away
Knowing that beauty cannot be his love*
Jul 22, 2016
Jul 22, 2016 at 5:22 AM UTC
the last time I wrote my hair was shorter,
copper, colourful and vivid.
I wait because that’s what I was taught to do;
you bleed until what you crave consumes you.
until your head is afflicted by the fervid, dark feelings.
when I crawl around my every day, I find pieces of you.
in plantain chips and Plato.
in wool coats and white coffee mugs.
it's impossible to tear myself from you.
Jul 9, 2018
Jul 9, 2018 at 12:24 AM UTC
Ce n'était, l'an passé, qu'une enfant blanche et blonde
Dont l'œil bleu, transparent et calme comme l'onde
Du lac qui réfléchit le ciel riant d'été,
N'exprimait que bonheur et naïve gaîté.
Que j'aimais dans le parc la voir sur la pelouse
Parmi ses jeunes sœurs courir, voler, jalouse
D'arriver la première ! Avec grâce les vents
Berçaient de ses cheveux les longs anneaux mouvants ;
Son écharpe d'azur se jouait autour d'elle
Par la course agitée, et, souvent infidèle,
Trahissait une épaule au contour gracieux,
Un sein déjà gonflé, trésor mystérieux,
Un col éblouissant de fraîcheur, dont l'albâtre
Sous la peau laisse voir une veine bleuâtre.
- Dans son petit jardin que j'aimais à la voir
À grand'peine portant un léger arrosoir,
Distribuer en pluie, à ses fleurs desséchées
Par la chaleur du jour, et vers le sol penchées,
Une eau douce et limpide ; à ses oiseaux ravis,
Des tiges de plantain, des grains de chènevis !...
C'est une jeune fille à présent blanche et blonde,
La même ; mais l'œil bleu, jadis pur comme l'onde
Du lac qui réfléchit le ciel riant d'été,
N'exprime plus bonheur et naïve gaîté.
630
Anemone,
Aubrieta
& Aster.
A life so precious,
A life so spacious.
Cosmos,
Cyclamen
& Crocus.
Call me when your ready,
Call me when it gets messy.
Ground Ivy,
Greater plantain
& Garlic Mustard.
Give me some love,
Give me everything above.
Our garden has turned
to awful melodies
of screams and sounds
that I once heard
as rhymes and
beautiful notes.
I never knew,
something so negative
could feel so positive.
Apr 29, 2018
Apr 29, 2018 at 3:04 PM UTC
I try to learn one or two every year.
Plantain, mullein, chicory.
I try to learn some usefulness.
Some nice lady told me the other day
That she could never learn medicinal plants.
It seems she had never considered
Learning them one at a time.
I have to remember to learn the name
Of that **** that spits needles at me
When I get too close
Apr 13, 2016
Apr 13, 2016 at 9:10 PM UTC
*Hiding in the plantain fields
From rain's yearn of touch
With a fear of falling in love
Drenched me to the core
Leaving no other way of
Slipping away from his hands
Being the first man to perceive
The virtue of my femininity!*
Sep 2, 2016
Sep 2, 2016 at 2:22 AM UTC
Stray dogs
Roam in the night
Looking for food
Looking for water
Maybe they too roam across my mind.
From San Juan
The saint feast parade spreads
Across the isle of enchantment.
(As their license plates claim)
Remember your sunscreen
As you are in the belt of Cancer
Even as the weather shifts
Dynamically
Hour to hour
Minute to minute
Day to day.
I came here to challenge the waves
But they challenged me instead
And I walked away
Battered
And ******
But balanced.
I had time to consider the plantain
And that it seems to be used in
Everything.
I roamed the streets of San Juan
In between their three towering
Sea kings
Guarding the city
For centuries.
Oh San Juan!
Jewel of the Americas
Respectfully following
the code of the indies
For 500 years you have stood
Defeated once
But unconquered.
(I think theres a lesson in that)
I kissed the freshwater
In the forest of the Anvil
And tread precariously amongst
the stones
Amidst graffitied groves of bamboo
And the calls of coqui.
So Puerto Rico,
With your history,
Your culture,
Your food,
Your beauty,
My only question is
Why arent you a state?
But then I remember
That the president is racist
And full of hate.
But I want you one day
To fully join us
In the flawed
But proud
U S of A
Stray dogs
Roam in the night
And maybe
Stray dogs will follow me home.
Oct 26, 2018
Oct 26, 2018 at 2:03 AM UTC
I've no idea what you could mean
or what you're trying to say,
my mind is sweet and squeaky clean
it's just not made your way,
Courgettes and carrots, parsnips too,
or even a creamy plantain,
I certainly won't mention a marrow,
that's just you boasting again
Ahhh the insinuations
the rhetoric, and rhyme
not saying what is meant
each, and every time
The witty repartee
and closeted nuance
knowing just what to say
taking a risqué chance
Squeaky clean, a facade
as carrots into men
fishing with a fishing rod
but only, now and then
Jul 21, 2017
Jul 21, 2017 at 7:01 PM UTC
*i mean, that **** is weirder than the scots deep-frying chocolate bars (mars, mianly, even though i think snikers would taste better), or slices of pizza; yeah, and they say: euro-trash... how much more ****** can you get?! i don't even want to know what the irish culinary fetish is; it's enough knowing that the thai like deep-frying locust.*
i never understood it, this english "thing",
there is probably no nation in the world that has
a compulsion to mix two carbohydrate heavyweights...
heavyweights?
pasta... bread... rice...
crisps...
so i was reading the yesterday's newspaper
and this recipe was included in the magazine:
pasta with beans and pesto...
sounds good enough...
but i read into the recipe...
400 grams of linguine,
300 grams green beans,
200 millitres basil pesto
freshly grated parmesan...
and then it hit me: 1 large potato cut into
1 centimetre cubes...
but now i'd be asking americans to: not bother
getting a passport...
in school i watched the english lodge crisps
into sandwitches...
this is the most oddball of all current nations...
who the **** combines two heavyweight carbohydrates?
they even have this standard of lodging chips
into buns...
like my father once noticed on the building
site, this black guy, stuffing a banana peanut-butter
and some bacon into a sandwitch...
fair enough if you lodge a plantain into
the mix... but a banana?
about as weird as the english
using crisps + bread... or pasta + potato.
having a glimpse at this pratice,
seems more fascinating, than, say, spotting a yeti.
May 21, 2017
May 21, 2017 at 7:43 AM UTC