Artichokes

By: Charles Giuliano - Apr 20, 2024

 

Artichokes

The Dada of artichokes
Poorly understood
More experience
Than vegetable
Existential exercise
Meditative dining
Taoist ritual
Like a tea ceremony
Foreboding for most
The Zen of preparation
Amputating top and stem
Difficult resistance
Cutting tough leaves
Nested cluster
Open and exposed
Spreading them wide
Labia of flavor
Libido of taste
Dollops of
Olive oil and soy
Splash of acidity
Crowned with
Crushed garlic
Minced ginger
Simmered in a pot
An inch of water
Creating steam
Low and slow
Served hot or cold
The tough outer leaves
Gnawed with our teeth
Clenched stripping
Such a small yield
Savoring the moment
Richly marinated
Exotic flavors
Layered to taste
Progressing inward
Trance like intensity
Noting the change
Inner leaves
Ever more tender
The last a soft
Clump removed
Consumed in one
Final gnash
Regretting the past
Reduced to rubble
Crumbled leaves
A disheveled heap
Down to the heart
Its inedible fuzz
Carefully removed
That final base
Ultimate reward
Yet another flavor
Then nothing at all
A mild exhaustion
Having met and mastered
Daunting challenge of
An artichoke