Cabbage

tags: Cabbage, Charles Simic, poetry, National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). My poetry suggestions are starting to run dry, which means I can start posting my own favorites (but you've seen many of those already) or you can send me your favorite poems, which I probably haven't read before! Today's poem was suggested by a reader, Digital Cuttlefish, who writes; "Another poet, perhaps known to you, that I only recently (I blush to admit) discovered, but have immediately fallen for, is the new Poet Laureate of the U.S., Charles Simic. On poets.org there are some audiorecordings of him reading a few ("in the library" is particularly nice [1:13]), and other of his poems can be found here and there. [ ... ] I will leave you with a favorite."

Cabbage

She was about to chop the head
In half,
But I made her reconsider
By telling her:
"Cabbage symbolizes mysterious love."

Or so said one Charles Fourier,
Who said many other strange and wonderful things,
So that people called him mad behind his back,

Whereupon I kissed the back of her neck
Ever so gently,

Whereupon she cut the cabbage in two
With a single stroke of her knife.

-- Charles Simic, US Poet Laureate 2008, The Book of Gods and Devils (Harvest Books; 1990).