"She was pretty as an artichoke."--a term of admiration.
The mayonnaise was all gone. The leaves, stem and inside `fuzz' were scraped together
into a pile. The heart had been eaten. All that was left was sticky fingers and the
aftertaste.
"It's really a flower, you know."--from the amateur botanist at the table.
No one else in the fruit bowl really liked the artichoke. The oranges thought him too
radical. The bananas called him gangly. The pear accused him of being too aggressive. But
really, they worried about him being actually worth 49 cents.
The conversation progressed like an artichoke. We peeled back the green phrases, one by
one, chewing on their ends. Only to find our separateness at the heart of the matter.
Stan poked at the artichoke in the green boiling water, with a fork, as the steam
clouded his glasses. "How long you suppose to boil this thing?" he asked.
Articulated Shopping List
White Bread: toast, sandwiches, bread and butter, predominant American values.
6 pack Pepsi Cola: Pepsi please, with lots of ice, lots of sugar.
Tortilla Chips: junk food.
Sliced Lunchmeat: sandwiches, white bread.
Campbell's Soup (1 can Cream of Mushroom, 1 can Beef Noodle): lunch, rainy day. Mmmm
good.
Fryer Chicken Pieces: articulated creature, movable parts.
2 cans Tomato Sauce: enough to smother any meal.
Sustenance.
You are what you eat (or so they say).
Articulated Shopping List II
(organic version)
1/8 lb. Bee Pollen: insect version of espresso.
Sprouts: potential of a whole pasture.
5 lbs. Whole Wheat Flour: nice alliteration, bad pie crust.
Tofu (bean curd): a test of ingenuity.
Fresh Vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery, Brussels sprouts): nature's
silent creatures, looked upon with same ardor as meateaters have for sirloin.
2 lbs. Brown Rice: staple of China (and you know how many Chinese there are).
1 lb. Felafel: The hamburger of India.
Fruit: junk food.
Goat's milk: smaller is better.
"Refining food takes away some of the most nutritious parts. Over the last sixty years, food has become more and more refined. It's scary to imagine the results of this trend continuing."
Eating can become a way of life.
James Maloney has been writing for years, and occasionally gets a little recognition and a groupie or two.
For more stories by James Maloney, click here.
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