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Seven Cardinals
Jules Nyquist (from Appetites)
Returning
with one bag of groceries,
I’ve forgotten what lies
beneath snow.
In the bare branches,
suddenly—
I see five, six,
seven cardinals.
Including two brownish females
all living above me.
They worry too,
about food.
Your instructor: Jules Nyquist, Ph.D., is the founder of Jules’ Poetry Playhouse. She loves experimenting with poetry and play, and has done research on using poetic inquiry to manage stress. She is the author of Appetites, finalist for the 2012 NM/AZ Book Awards, and her recent award-winning books are Atomic Paradise, Homesick, then, and The Sestina Playbook (Poetry Playhouse Publications). She took her MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College and her PhD in Post-Secondary Adult Education from Capella University. Her poems have appeared in Salamander, 5AM, Malpais Review, Adobe Walls, A View from the Loft, St. Paul Almanac, Long Islander News, Gray Sparrow, House Organ, Duke City Fix, Café Review, Open-Hearted Horizon: An Albuquerque Poetry Anthology, IKON Magazine, Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, and elsewhere. She is co-editor of the Poets Speak Anthology series co-published by Poetry Playhouse Publications and Beatlick Press. She taught poetry for the NM State Poetry Society, the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, and Univerisity of New Mexico Writer’s Conference. She delights in giving poets tools to empower their unique voices.
Jules last offered a variation of this class online during the pandemic in 2020. Five years later, how has food continued to be a metaphor for our lives in society, especially in the winter holiday season?
Poems from Appetites, along with handouts, will be used in class. A reference list of food books that have inspired the instructor will be shared (a partial list is included in the book Appetites). Appetites is available for a discounted price of $10 to students in class and can be purchased in class. It is not necessary to purchase the book, as all handouts are provided.
Class limit 12 students.
Writing lunch break at noon at Jules Poetry Playhouse. Bring your own lunch if desired. Plentiful snacks and beverages provided (coffee, tea, water, scones and/or bagels, chips, salsa, cookies). Ample time to explore the grounds of Jules’ Poetry Playhouse and walk the labyrinth.
Bring writing materials, free wi-fi if needed.
Hosted by Jules Nyquist and John Roche.
Author books will be for sale, along with Poetry Playhouse Publications books and art.
Directions and contact info sent with registration. Questions? Email jules@poetryplayhouse.com.
"I drafted a poem in Jules' "Food as Metaphor" workshop and, with almost no revision, it was accepted for publication by Third Wednesday. Jules' variety of ideas and relaxed manner made it easy for me to create a strong piece of writing. I hope to work with her again." - Colleen - New York
"Using the metaphor of food has inspired and opened up an entirely unexpected area of creativity for me. Thank you Jules for your gift." - Joanne - Albuquerque
"A fun, challenging experience that made me think about food issues in so many different ways. It was very interesting to hear what others in the class wrote on the same general topic. We all seemed to go in different directions from the same prompt. So interesting." - Andy - Albuquerque
Butter
1962 –
My mother loves butter more than I do,
more than anyone. She pulls chunks off
the stick and eats it plain, explaining
cream spun around into butter! Growing up
we ate turkey cutlets sauteed in lemon
and butter, butter and cheese on green noodles,
butter melting in small pools in the hearts
of Yorkshire puddings, butter better
than gravy staining white rice yellow,
butter glazing corn in slipping squares,
butter the lava in white volcanoes
of hominy grits, butter softening
in a white bowl to be creamed with white
sugar, butter disappearing into
whipped potatoes, with pineapple,
butter melted and curdy to pour
over pancakes, butter licked off the plate
with warm Alaga syrup. When I picture
the good old days I am grinning greasy
with my brother, having watched the tiger
chase his tail and turn to butter. We are
Mumbo and Jumbo’s children despite
historical revision, despite
our parent’s efforts, glowing from the inside
out, one hundred megawatts of butter.
From Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990–2010 (Graywolf Press, 2010) Copyright © 2017 by Elizabeth Alexander.