PAD Day 29: The Dreaded Legume

 Today's prompts from Write Better Poetry and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a "sight" poem, and (2) "Start by reading Alberto Rios’s poem “Perfect for Any Occasion.” Now, write your own two-part poem that focuses on a food or type of meal. At some point in the poem, describe the food or meal as if it were a specific kind of person. Give the food/meal at least one line of spoken dialogue."

Robert's prompt completes a quintet of prompts this month that includes all five senses. Sight, of course, is the easiest to do in poetry. I thought of Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," which I've parodied in the past or used the basic framework of his 13-part poem. So I veered a little away from Maureen's prompt by making this a 13-part poem instead of a 2-part one, but I think the other aspects of her prompt are in there.  I'm am not the world's biggest fan of most beans, as reflected in this poem. 

13 Ways of Looking at Peas

1.
I will look at those dreaded legumes
as long as I don't have to
eat them.
 
2.
It was no help
when parents and grandparents
tried to force-feed them to me
when I was little.
 
3.
Sometimes they're still served
against my will,
a mound of little green balls
taking up real estate on my plate.
 
4.
"C'mon," the peas cajole me,
pushy as time-share salesmen.
"We're really great!
We promise not to make you gag this time."
If required, I swallow them whole.
 
5.
When I eat vegetable soup,
I eat around the peas,
till they sit at the bottom of the bowl,
and I count them. Last time: seventeen.
As for split-pea soup: never!
 
6.
When in Britain,
there was no phrase that made me cringe
more than, "mushy peas."
 
7.
Mixed vegetables, pot pies,
beef stew, even fettucini alfredo,
all red flags to me.
Will there be peas in them?
 
8.
But I've come to realize
that it was the canned peas
my mother served that I hated.
The frozen ones aren't quite so horrid,
but I still avoid them.
 
9.
On one occasion I helped shell fresh peas
and tried a couple raw, right out of the pod.
Not too bad. Why don't we eat them this way?
 
10.
A friend introduced me to wasabi peas.
I actually liked their spicy crunch.
Maybe it's the mushy texture of other peas
that turns me off.
 
11.
And my grandkids like their "pea snacks,"
crispy dry-roasted pea-flavored treats
shaped like pods. Not bad at all.
 
12.
Then there are snow peas and sugar snap peas,
which you eat whole, pod and all,
like green beans, which I do enjoy.
 
13.
Okay, maybe I don't hate all peas.
But lima beans? That's another story!