reading "callaloo"/eating callaloo: a special thirtieth anniversary issue || making black...
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Making Black Eyed Peas: For Rita DoveAuthor(s): Samiya BashirSource: Callaloo, Vol. 30, No. 1, Reading "Callaloo"/Eating Callaloo: A Special ThirtiethAnniversary Issue (Winter, 2007), p. 24Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30135858 .
Accessed: 18/06/2014 13:53
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MAKING BLACK EYED PEAS -For Rita Dove
by Samiya Bashir
Never mind the way the earth turned flat at the edge of where we lived;* this ritual remains.
A midnight kiss, an overstocked pantry, a jovial welcome at the front door for Mr. Jones, his arms laden with corn bread. This far north
the quaking aspens shimmy their leaves to the ground by October. But winds these days stagger in low, west to east, anxious, drunk and stubborn,
snatching stray hard headed discs from ice-cycled branches, to send sailing through the open window for a last dance between drizzled mustard dust, thick red peppers, green chilies and that extra
pinch of garlic. I count 365 pitch pitted pennies for each paper plate; add a heap of collards to be sure. Pass your mother's ancient copper shaker set when you ask: How come you never spice up these peas?
* The opening lines are from a poem called, "The Shaw Brothers," by Afaa Michael Weaver
Callaloo 30.1 (2007) 24
This content downloaded from 194.29.185.209 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 13:53:06 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions