Patrice Claeys
patriceclaeys@aol.com / patriceboyerclaeys.com

Bio Note: After publishing three books in succession on mental illness, grieving, and the pandemic, I turned to a happier subject—fruits—and published a collaborative poetry/photography book called Honey from the Sun. All my fruit poems were centos, a collaged form that allowed me to play with written fragments from hundreds of poets. It was such fun that I’ve now turned my sights to vegetables. They may not be as pretty, but their strong flavors and hardy natures allow for some strange and rewarding explorations.

Belgian Endive

Shining and whole
barely tipped with green,
they are pale waxen tapers,
particular beauties
with
tight
chicory petals, thin as the film of ice.

Peeling layers down
for the secret
hidden
in the butteryellow glow

until I find it		
soft-lipped in my mouth—	
bitterness.

The beautiful ones are not faithful.
                        

Cento Sources: Donald Hall, Vachel Lindsay, Elinor Wylie, Howard Moss, Michael Dickman, Ed Roberson, Sophia Newton, Harryette Mullen, Roberto Harrison, John Spaulding, Denise Levertov, Tom Pickard, Keith Ratzlaff, Helen Bryant, Peter Balakian

Brussels Sprouts

How delicate!
They look like
tender buttons
too delicious to resist.

Seasoned and green
miniatures
are glazed, split
fried, broiled or crispy skin roasted
to feed the wanting that we are.

We are lifted
simply due to
the quiver of oil in a hot pan
the small halves
their smoking hearts.

And amazed, my heart leaps
to understand—

our world is as big as we make it.
                        

Cento Sources: June Jordan, Tui Scanlan, Gertrude Stein, Jack Prelutsky, Deborah Digges, Lee Upton, Jacob Polley, Richard Blanco, Jane Hirshfield, David Tomas Martinez, Alba Cid, January Gill O’Neil, Genevieve Kaplan, Claribel Alegria, William Carlos Williams, Primus St. John, Georgia Douglas Johnson

Rutabagas

With their heads
scarred
from the small wound-stump
of
dead leaves
and their bumpy
roots
fat
and cold
below the earth
they look like
ugly
rocks
and lumps of wax.

I say
look again.

Scrape some rind off
and taste the earth.
They make the blood warmer
with nothing
but
their stout bodies, their
elemental
food.

Beauty
is so thin.
To be of use—
that is something	
heroic.
                        

Cento Sources: Suzanne Noguere, Uncle Luke, D. H. Lawrence, Jana Prikryl, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jason Guriel, John Piller, Ioanna Carlsen, Catherine Wagner, Keith Waldrop, Tui Scanlan, Gwendolyn Brooks, Mary Eastwood Knevels, Charles Reznikoff, Rickey Laurentiis, Lisa Scottoline, Roisin Kelly, Zbigniew Herbert, Jonathan Swift, Linda Pastan, Victorio Reyes Asili, Eduardo C. Corral, Joanna Klink, Primus St. John, Tony Hoagland, Kay Ryan, Marge Piercy, Dorothea Lasky, Eavan Boland

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