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And a side of fried okra, please…

By Patricia Smith

How’s this for poetic inspiration? At about 3 a.m., when I should have been snoozing contentedly, dreaming stanzas, I was in the back seat of a cab hurtling toward Gladys Knight’s Chicken & Waffles because—
1) I’m in Atlanta, where they fry everything but chairs.
2) I’ve always been fascinated by the pairings—hot, sweet, crunchy, doughy, syrup, Tabasco.
3) I’m at AWP, which seems to have brought out some giddy, reckless muse/scoundrel (I call her Caldonia), who doesn’t surface until I’m away from home and surrounded by 20-year-olds who think a good ol’ hefty helping of potential heart attack at 3 a.m. is “fun.”
4) I think there’s a book somewhere that lists chicken & waffles are a black person’s rite of passage. If you can handle ‘em, you can keep your membership card.
Now it is 10:20 a.m., and I am reminded approximately every 23 seconds of my early morning feast. It was best tiny death I’ve ever consumed. I must write about what is happening to my body.
Or my body will win.

2007-03-03

Comments (3)

  • On March 5, 2007 at 10:31 am Randall wrote:

    chicken and waffles as divine inspiration? I love it!!!!
    Report this comment

  • On March 5, 2007 at 4:39 pm Tara Betts wrote:

    Girrrrrl, that was some good fried okra, buckwheat waffles and grits. Eating at 3 a.m. is becoming a rarer experience for me, but it was so, so good. I don’t think people understand how much the contrast of heat & sweet is just culinary delight.
    teeheehee,
    T.
    Report this comment

  • On March 6, 2007 at 9:41 pm Rich Villar wrote:

    Those greens flatly refused to play. Chicken and waffles? Anything less would be uncivilized.
    Report this comment


Posted in AWP, Group Blog on Saturday, March 3rd, 2007 by Patricia Smith.

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