Kitchen romance — Summary

Dave BontaRomantic

O mouth, we set sail on a fine pudding, made by a cook and an oven which both please me, the first time I ever saw my wife— we fell to oyster bed.

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The poem is a short, playful tangle of food and love. It opens by addressing a mouth, and from there the language slides between eating and romance. A "fine pudding" becomes something the speaker and a partner "set sail on," as if a meal were a voyage. The cook and the oven "both please me," which could mean a satisfying dinner, or could hint at the pleasure of the people involved.

Then the poem lurches into memory: "the first time I ever saw my wife." The sentence doesn't settle, and that's part of the fun. The closing line, "we fell / to oyster bed," pulls together two ideas. We fell to, as in tucked into a meal, and we fell into bed. Oysters are also a traditional symbol of romance, and an oyster bed is where they grow.

The speaker seems delighted and a little cheeky. The mood is warm, sensual and light, with food and desire blurred into one.

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