Quattro Fratelli – Ben Kronman

quattro fratelli

Ben Kronman

 

This morning

I was thinking

how much of our

brotherhood

revolves around food

four brothers

and a feast before us

 

for you

I will agree to disagree

We fight with our words

All wanting to go

Elsewhere for Dinner

I say no, me first

You picked last time

And before the other two

 

In our car ride home

I suggested

we get noodles

From my favorite place

It tastes much better

When we all agree

 

Tonight we ordered

Xiaolongbao

For the very first time

And the youngest

Burns his mouth

On the boiling soup inside

 

The elegant silk

Wraps around a fiery cauldron

Of flavor and delight

I motion jokingly

That we have eaten them all

Before unveiling another basket

Full of clouds

 

I pretend not to notice

The younger two

Fumbling with their

Chopsticks over noodles

There are no forks here

 

We try not to speak and listen

To the waiters interrupting to ask

If we would like anything else

 

Of course we do

 

We are four brothers eating

We are insatiable

 

You steal a dumpling

From the eldest brother’s plate

Caution

A dragon’s fire bursts

Through the table

 

We laugh and celebrate

The night away from home

But never forget

To bring back some for father

 

This is why I love you all

 

———-

 

I chose to imitate “Le Due Sedie” in the Saporoso Poems by Jennifer Barone. I chose this piece because it truly expresses the love that can be shared over a meal, or more over a table. I chose a table of brothers, my brothers, for together we make the “Quattro Fratelli” or four brothers. From imitating this piece, I learned that the author also finds love over meals, but with her significant other. I learned that not only her culture, but the culture of her lover, seemingly Vietnamese, also has a strong connection between food and love. I learned about my culture while writing that nothing is quite as important or special as spending time with those you love most, and those that make you happiest. In my case it is my siblings. There is cultural DNA in both poems, that being the love shared around food. My family’s experience is similar to what we have learned about in class. My family is Italian-American, and often the time we spend all together is over food. In the instance captured in this poem we experienced the Chinese practice of shared dining as author Liu Junru in Food and Drink Traditions described it. The table was elegantly filled with large bowls of noodle soups and the best of all the Xiaolongbao, which are also called soup dumplings and have a soft flour noodle shell with broth and often a meat/filling on the inside. Sharing from family sized dishes create a connection between the sharers and leaves one with a loving feel.