Monthly Archives: May 2006

Eating

Pollyanna Foods Inc.

Normally, a label reading, “May contain traces of: Fireside sing-a-longs, swimming holes, a well-defined value system” would drive me to drink. Or at least not to buy the product. Not that I have a problem with fires or singing or swimming or values, but really. I’d rather they not make an appearance in my dinner.

There aren’t alot of companies that offer vegetarian frozen dinners. While I’m not a vegetarian, I do have a problem with the “meat” in frozen meals. It’s a little too sketchy for me. Amy’s is the best brand I’ve found so far, but I thought I’d give the slightly pricier Seeds of Change a try, despite their inherent cheesiness, because our grocery doesn’t carry a great variety of Amy’s.

I’m glad I was in a happy place when I read the goofball label. Their Teriyaki Stir-Fried Rice with Vegetables & Tofu was one tasty frozen dinner. And it had tofu in it. I chose to eat tofu. What’s happening to me?

Reading

"The Education of a Poet"

American Life in Poetry: Column 061
By Ted Kooser,
U.S. Poet Laureate
Everywhere I travel I meet people who want to write poetry but worry that what they write won’t be “any good.” No one can judge the worth of a poem before it’s been written, and setting high standards for yourself can keep you from writing. And if you don’t write you’ll miss out on the pleasure of making something from words, of seeing your thoughts on a page. Here Leslie Monsour offers a concise snapshot of a self-censoring poet.

The Education of a Poet
Her pencil poised, she’s ready to create,
Then listens to her mind’s perverse debate
On whether what she does serves any use;
And that is all she needs for an excuse
To spend all afternoon and half the night
Enjoying poems other people write.

Leslie Monsour’s newest book of poetry is “The Alarming Beauty of the Sky” (2005) published by Red Hen Press. Poem copyright (c) 2000 by Leslie Monsour and reprinted from “The Formalist,” Vol. 11, by permission of the author. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.