Ever-steady student staple
Borne from shelves
To damp-rot kitchen cupboards
Into which you’d drunkly delve
In midst of hard-won hangovers
Rich ringed panacea, made to
Foot the bill of last night’s drinks,
Great heated layers heaped on toast;
With pan forgotten –
“Soaking” in the kitchen sink.
Beguiling carbohydrate stew,
Both natural and not,
You nursed and nourished me
Through times of dwindling bursary
And though I’ve moved on now
To better things
And foods with high-falutin luxuries
(Like ‘vitamins’ and varied colours)
I’ll hold you always in my heart – and arteries.
Metallic tasting, rust tinged stodge,
Monument to meals made on grotty grills,
Rest now, the better in my memory –
Your noble purpose honourably fulfilled.
John Clifford Poetry 