Getting Spicy with #VerseLove26. I Went With Nutmet (It's the Constitutional State After All). But We are Upon a Weekend, So Let It All Simply Be

Okay, Friday was an on- and off-again day with meetings, programs, meetings, and a lunch with an ol' student. I think I accomplished what I had to, but I also liked a poetic prompt to think about the spices that make us know the world as we know it. I can taste nutmeg, but it was interesting to unravel that the "Nutmeg State" is actually a swindle of peddlers selling wood chips to make a quick buck. Funny that it also became a national identity. 

I need to grade. I need to get atop two more weeks of classes and the awards/convocation season ahead. Honestly, I just want to weed-whack and sweep up the mess I made of an overgrown lawn. This must be spring. Meanwhile, my house is piles of books as more and more have arrived and I need to find a home for them all.

Of course, there's also sleep. I'm in need of it as I'm sure you are, too. Hello, Saturday. Come what may. 

A Nutmeg State (of Mind) 

b.r.crandall

I think it was 

Blumenthal

who said

we only have

wit to export…

the nuttiness of

pumkin spice

& the grind of apricot-like

fruit to calm digestive

systems with warm, 

aromatic woodiness. 

It’s the right seasoning for jerks…

just ask Mohegans (& their sun)

or Pequots, Mashantuckets,

Shaghticokes or Golden Hill

Pagussetts who had their 

love for long, tidal rivers

taken away by Pilgrims…

whaling days are now gone

with the constitution

but the Yankee ingenuity remains.

There’s wood to grind

for a quick buck

along the coastline…

the ivy-educated way.

Wiffleballs, Bic Pens, 

Frisbees. Not sure

about Stepford Wives

or Pez Dispensers placed

in Mark Twain’s house,

but I can hear 

Sikorsky helicopters

buzzing military might

as Pepe pulls pizza

from the oven.