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.