MARCH SOL – 2025 – Poems about Nourishment

This is my fourth year taking the SOL Challenge. In the past, I had chosen to write poems about birds for 31 days, and then last year I wrote about flowers for 31 days. This year, I’ve decided to write about nourishment – all types of food for 31 days. Being of Italian heritage, food has always been an important part of my life. I wake up and go to sleep thinking about the food I will make and eat the next day. As I grow older, I think about food as nourishment for both my body and soul. I hope you enjoy my creations.

Thanks for reading, Slicers! I appreciate the kind words and recommendations!

March 31

March 30

March 29th

March 28th

March 27th

March 26th

March 25th

March 24th

March 23rd


Farmhouse Peaches

I step into Elsie’s farmhouse kitchen.
She is silver-haired and smiling,
waving a welcoming spoon at me.
I am visiting for the weekend
just before I begin college in September.
I love this old farmhouse
built in three different centuries –
the original house built in the 1780s,
then an addition dating from 1860’s and 
then again, the big kitchen from the 1930’s.

The main house has very low ceilings 
and wide plank pine floors.
Elsie asks if I’m ready for canning peaches.
I smile and nod eagerly,
I dutifully climb the creaky steps
and bring down a box of peaches 
from their resting place
under the quilt-covered brass bed
I take a deep breath and inhale
peach blossom perfume.

In the kitchen Elsie is 
getting the water bath ready
for the stout glass Mason jars.
I take each washed peach
and mark it tenderly with an X
to make them easy to peel.
We dip them in boiling water
for a few minutes and 
drop them promptly 
into a lemony cold-water bath.

We peel and slice the peaches.
Elsie makes the sugar syrup,
I pack the peach slices
into each waiting Mason jar
and Elsie pours the syrup 
over the fragrant peaches.
We carefully put on the lids
and place the jars 
in the large pot of water.
The water quickly comes to a boil.

We sit down in the sunny kitchen
Until we need to remove the jars
and set them to cool on
the tea towel-covered counters.
The weekend goes by quickly
and I eat my fill of peaches,
Rhubarb, tomatoes, collards,
Rutabagas, parsnips –
and every root vegetable 
I can possibly think of.

When it’s time to leave,
Elsie walks me out to the car,
wishes me luck at school –
“Work hard, but not too hard”
I promise and give her a long hug,
take in the farmhouse and the fields.
As I’m about to pull out,
Elsie waves a finger at me
and touches her head
“Wait!” she declares

As she turns back to her house
and emerges moments later
with a large sunny jar of peaches.
She places it in my grateful hands.
Months later as I’m study for exams,
I rummage through my snack stash
and find the long-lost Mason jar
shining with golden peaches
I place two halves in a bowl,
All at once I taste summer.

March 22nd

March 21st

March 20th

March 19th


Café Brittany

Sunday trip into the city,
New York City – the Big Apple.
My father driving into
the Lincoln Tunnel
and emerging into Midtown.
Then we’d wind our way
downtown to Café Brittany.
Daydreaming of the menu.

Finally, we find a parking spot,
walk down the street
to the little bistro
with the smokey windows
and the red awning.
I skip walk down the street
anticipating the French feast
awaiting us.

As we enter the small,
dark restaurant,
waiters in black 
with crisp white aprons
greet us with wide smiles.
“Bon jour,” they croon.
“Bon jour,” we say
in our Jersey accents.

Our family friends
are already seated
and they call us over
to a large table in the back.
It is laden with baskets of baguettes
and I run to take my seat,
quickly find the butter
and slather it over a warm slice.

The adults discuss the menu
and decide what to order:
French Onion Soup, escargot,
Duck Confit and Coq au vin,
Bouillabaisse and Boeuf Bourguignon,
Coquille Saint-Jacques and Cassoulet.
My father leans into me,
“You will try everything.”

A grand food adventurer,
I nod my head eagerly,
I will try everything.
I’m not sure of all the dishes
but I’m ready to try
all this beautiful food.
I reach for another baguette
And let the butter melt in my mouth.

Soon the appetizers come:
soups, salads, mussels, 
and a sizzling platter
piled with brown shells
stuffed with parsley butter and garlic.
It smells wonderful.
My father puts two on my plate.
I take each to my lips.

I suck them down quickly.
Salty, buttery, garlicky –
a mouth full of yum.
My older sister giggles
and wrinkles her nose.
“Snails!” she hisses, laughing.
“Escargots are snails?
Well, they’re delicious!” I declare.

March 18th

March 17th

March 16th

March 15th – The Ides of March and National Peanut Day

March 14th

March 13th

March 12th

March 11th

March 10th

March 9th

March 8th

March 7th

March 6th

March 5th

March 4th

March 3rd

March 2nd

March 1st

93 thoughts on “MARCH SOL – 2025 – Poems about Nourishment”

  2. I think a daily dose pf poem-nourishment is EXACTLY what we need, Joanne! Gorgeous poem in memory of your grandfather. Mine, too, was a worker of the earth – forever a farmer at heart, who helped lay the keels of ships in WWII. These are the generations that built this nation. We owe them so much.

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  3. Both of your poems show the loving relationship you shared with your grandfather. I love the focus of the egg making and the sadness of the “squashed blossoms” and the rifle in hand. Powerful poems!

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  5. Joanne,

    I’m getting inspired reading these nourishing poems. Have you ever read any Crystal Wilkinson poetry? She writes a lot about food and kitchens. And that green kitchen is back in style!

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  6. Your theme is such a favorite! I love all food – – and it’s one of my favorite things about travel. I love sampling local cuisine wherever I go. I think you picked a winner of a theme for the month and can’t wait to read these each day.

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  7. Your poem is a golden delight in itself, Joanne – I can just see and taste that soft-boiled “wobbly” egg. Such an intimate, loving, and yes, nourishing moment between you and your Grandpa.

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  9. Joanne, what a peaceful group of poems about food and your grandparents. I loved reading all three in one sitting. I think my favorite is Grandpa Charlie’s gentle preparation of the soft boiled egg in the buttery crackers.

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  12. March 5: Joanne, I did not know the pomegranate is the Chinese apple. I should have known that since I’ve traveled to China. Anyway, this poem has echoes of Gary Snyder’s “Oranges,” which I’m sure you know. I love the story about your mom and picking the biggest pomegranate when they go on sale. Reading, I recalled my own first experience eating a pomegranate was when a student brought some in for a Medieval feast project I did w/ students during our Chaucer unit. I was an early career teacher in the early 1980s, and that was the first project based learning we did. I went to the library and found a Medieval cookbook and translated recipes my students prepared for the activity, which included dressing like Chaucer’s pilgrims and performance activities. Thank you for sparking this memory. Food does that, doesn’t it?

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  13. From your grandfather’s “garden of delight,” to Grandpa Charlie’s “wobbly egg” dipped by buttery crackers” to the “too bitter for me”greens of Grandma Olga, to the tea house where you set down, “your bones, and books and heavy backpack,” to those jewel-like pomegranate seeds in the Chinese apple, this poetry collection nurtures the soul and provides much food for thought during this March. I can’t wait to feast on what’s coming to the table next.

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  15. I love the way you structured your persimmon poem today: setting the stage, then pulling yourself into it, and closing with your actions at home. The final lines resonated for me. Beautiful!

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  18. Ah, brie! Your poem is a love letter, and I’m all in! I’m holding onto some of the words you used – luscious, secreted, wondrous – for future Slice inspiration!

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  20. Funny that you wrote about brie today. I can’t find it, but I just saw a meme today that said something about Brie Larson and Alison Brie getting together to do something cheese related, lol.

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  21. Joanne, I love the Brie Love poem – made me think of a picture book that students adore at my school: “Teh Big Cheese.” I also loves reading about persimmons (that very word has such appeal, poetically speaking. You reminded me of my father’s story about persimmons, that they are delicious only AFTER the frost. Eating one before turns your mouth inside out. The lone crow in that poem calls to my soul. I can hear it.

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  22. What a good idea to choose a theme for your slices…and food is definitely one that could/will keep you going the whole month! I’m with you in your brie-love. Now I’m craving some!

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  25. Joanne, I am struck by each of your titles. They are rich, like “Persimmons in Winter” and my favorite, “Consider the Pomegranate” I agree “What a wonderfully beautiful, messy fruit.”

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  26. Joanne, the coffee post brought up images of my own grandfather, stirring Carnation evaporated milk into his morning brew, achieving that caramel color, and even pouring some into his saucer to cool it. That was so long ago – the memory is dim and fragile. Thank you for sparking it; your poem made me feel like I was right there in the room…you and I and both our grandfathers.

    The tea time post invites us all to stop and savor one another – very needed. Thank you for all the warmth and beauty you share, in these poetic moments.

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  28. Oh, what a lovely tea party experience you describe today. I haven’t been to a proper tea, but I will look forward to it someday with someone who would enjoy it as much as I would. Right now, I’m off to make my first cup of tea for the day.

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  29. Teatime

    Joanne,

    What appeals to me most in your poem today is the idea of being in community with friends. The conversation over treats harkens to a different era in my mind. I’ve been to a couple of tea ceremonies when traveling, but I am not much of a hot tea drinker. I wish my associations with the beverage were not so tied up in my relationship w/ my stepmother because I know–from your poem–I’ve missed out.

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  32. First of all, I really love this idea of a 31-day theme! And food — be still my heart.

    I’m a daily tea drinker and LOVE fancy teas, so this spoke so strongly to me. I loved the beautiful imagery you gave us… the communal seating, the blue hydrangeas, the “slippery sandwiches”…

    I also really appreciated how you “celebrated” the long winter — something I found it difficult to do this year!

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  33. First of all, I really love this idea of a 31-day theme! And food — be still my heart.

    I’m a daily tea drinker and LOVE fancy teas, so this spoke so strongly to me. I loved the beautiful imagery you gave us… the communal seating, the blue hydrangeas, the “slippery sandwiches”…

    I also really appreciated how you “celebrated” the long winter — something I found it difficult to do this year!

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  34. Joanne,

    I’m going to remember “boogety-woogety” for the next thumper cart I get in the store. It’s perfect! And I sure wish it were cantaloupe season here. Good ones are hard to come by in Idaho.

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  39. I love a good narrative poem and this one painted such a picture. I appreciated that you added a nice splash of humor with your word choices(returning him to his solemn brethren…ha!). Fun theme for the month!

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  41. Sweet blue souvenirs… I liked that line. It’s nice to have a reminder of a good day that ties right in to the shared experience. This reminded me of a day when we went fishing when the kids were younger… instead of fish, we brought home blackberries.

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    1. They are an Italian delicacy that I think only Grandpa’s make. I never have because I don’t have a garden and the stores don’t sell squash blossoms but they are stuffed with bread crumbs and herbs and parmesan cheese then dipped in a flour batter (think tempura) and lightly fried. They were delicious!

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  44. 3-14 Watermelon

    Joanne,

    Similar scenes played out in my family. My grandparents lived in a wooded area where fireflies lit up the night like sparklers. I loved that place more than any other. And your poem is so lovely in returning me to my childhood home. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.

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  46. I came to your post because of watermelons and left with watermelon juice dripping from my own chin (in my imagination). Food does bring us closer together even through words. This poem does it all and the last two lines are my favorite. This one caught my attention because my daughter longingly wished for some fresh watermelon after dinner today. Come on, summer!

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  47. Noanne,

    My sto

    arch is growling for peanut brittle, but I do t think I have all the necessary ingredients. I do have the perfect recipe, however. It uses brown sugar. I’ve been making it for over 40 years.

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      2. Happy to help! Either last year or the year before I wrote a blog post about my typos. I blog on my phone and use it to comment, too. I use one finger to write. It’s not efficient.

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  49. I keep checking in to find sumptuous combinations of senses: “green flower treasure; velvet bite; candy crunch; sweetness of summer dripping; blue souvenir” (I really love that feast of sound!) This is a yummy anthology you’re preparing for us.

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