[1585] Vegan Delight

Guest poem sent in by Arvind Natarajan <arvindnatarajan@>

Ackees, chapatties
Dumplins an nan,
Channa an rotis
Onion uttapam,
Masala dosa
Green callaloo
Bhel an samosa
Corn an aloo.

Yam an cassava
Pepperpot stew,
Rotlo an guava
Rice an tofu,
Puri, paratha
Sesame casserole,
Brown eggless pasta
An brown bread rolls.

Soya milked muesli
Soya bean curd,
Soya sweet sweeties
Soya's de word,
Soya bean margarine
Soya bean sauce
What can mek medicine?
Soya of course.

Soya meks yoghurt
Soya ice-cream,
Or soya sorbet
Soya reigns supreme,
Soya sticks liquoriced
Soya salads
Try any soya dish
Soya is bad.

Plantain an tabouli
Cornmeal pudding
Onion bhajee
Wid plenty cumin,
Breadfruit an coconuts
Molasses tea
Dairy free omelettes
Very chilli.

Ginger bread, nut roast
Sorrell, paw paw,
Cocoa an rye toast
I tek dem on tour,
Drinking cool maubi
Meks me feel sweet,
What was dat question now?
What do we eat?

 	 -- Benjamin Zephaniah

Found that Minstrels didn't list any Zephaniahs.  Watched the HARDtalk
program with this outspoken poet when he refused the offer of OBE (in Nov
2003), by publishing an article in 'The Guardian'.

Far from his political outcries, the above is a typical children's poem with
nice rhyming all along.  What interested me is how much the Indian food has
integrated into the British staple diet. (even onion uttappams! soon chutney
& sambar will accompany it) No wonder then that Chicken Tikka Masala ranks
as the No. 1 dish of England. [In particular, good *vegetarian* food is far
more likely than not to be Indian - martin]

And two paragraphs for soya - makes one wonder why is he is so obsessed with
it.

From 'The Guardian' article :

    Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that
    word "empire"; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years
    of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my
    forefathers brutalised.

The full article at :
http://books.guardian.co.uk/poetry/features/0,12887,1094009,00.html

Arvind

[Links]

Zephaniah's home page: http://www.benjaminzephaniah.com/

Biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Zephaniah

See also the similar "Bleezer's Ice Cream" [Poem #1055]




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