Dear Reader

As you may have guessed, I am an avocado lover, but I hardly know anything about avocados. Yet, I haven't always been a fan. Like Pablo Neruda, I would like to go on a journey to discover the beauty of this seemingly ordinary food. The love between avocados and I grew just as the love of my high school sweetheart blossomed, which has now succumbed to a happy, avocado-eating marriage. My husband, Erik, was the leading force behind my intimate relationship with the avocado. Whether it be guacamole dip, sliced, or pureed, I am ready to dive in and taste new avocado recipes as well as find out the history and cultures behind these distant travelers.

I hope that by the time you finish reading that you will want to pick up an avocado, slice its flesh, and chomp! So, come along with me on this journey from Raleigh, North Carolina, to who knows where!

To see where I've started, please click on the first entry under the May archive.

Your traveling companion,

Katrina

Saturday, May 8, 2010

An Avocado is an Alligator

An avocado is an alligator
Surreptitiously lurking,
Silent yet territorial--
And will stand his ancient ground--strong,
All in the name of survival.

Rigid skin, delicate innards,
An avocado is an alligator.

Not just any alligator,
P. americana is from Pueblo, Mexico.
It knows the Incan hymn book,
It is a well-acquainted member of nature’s society, and
It has seen life that no longer exists.

But, it exists.
It has survived.

And, now, it’s family extends to the far corners of the Earth,
From Central and South America,
To North America and even Australia.

Rigid skin, delicate innards,
The avocado is an alligator.

Reliant on the sacred water,
Dependent on Mother Nature’s conditions,
The avocado is an alligator.

Seeking survival,
Then facing extinction.*


















*Persea americana is the avocado's scientific name.
This extended metaphor poem stemmed from one of the many nicknames of the avocado: alligator pear.
"Avocado." Encyclopædia britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
27 Apr. 2010. .
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)