Wednesday, July 25, 2007

soup recipe (the dreaded Babel of langpo)

(note: all ingredients below
may mean different things
to different readers
assuming readers are eaters
I can't cater for local differences
at this level of nuance
and some variation in the outcome
regarding flavour, zest and nutrition
must be expected.)

1. Many, many cloves of garlic, fired, seared, enraged
but unbowed (purple Spanish is best, but there we go already).

2. Onion always oniononiononion
desquamated and stripped and peeled
delayered with art

3. Then a hillside tumble
of leekcarrotsugarsnapspinachcabbagelentils
into the bruisèd alembic
to caramelise fervently
many minutes of dissolution

(I spotted a tricky reference to Krishna
and honey and cancer
and sunshine
in caramelise
again the readereater is advised
to exercise discretion
concerning which ingredients
are most likely and only ingest
elements already roughly familiar
from his/her own diet-narrative
--no one really eats sunshine or cancer,
for instance. Really.)

4. Stock, much stock beef blood stock
for of injecting testosterone-syntagmeme chokes

5. Fish sauce and fermented bean ooze

still slow heat at the vessel
agitation must feel natural
and unforced
if ingestion is not to be troubled
with peristalsis of lies
and echo of jackboots
in a soupy night.

6. Pepper of all kinds ground and befuddled
now raises the prima materia (one clear word,
one indisputable sharing of essence, one most simple consommé
in which everyone agrees is transparency and good intent)
dripping into daylight
all that remains
deep
down
soup
shine
green
steam
and all I am doing is sharing a recipe
and war between us already
there is.

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