fbpx

Sharing A Meal With 20 Strangers

Michael Kaufmann was a Chew on This notetaker at Szechwan Garden. At the event, attendees discussed food and ethnic identity, as well as the importance of ethnic restaurants to the West 38th…

Michael Kaufmann was a Chew on This notetaker at Szechwan Garden. At the event, attendees discussed food and ethnic identity, as well as the importance of ethnic restaurants to the West 38th St. Corridor. Oh, and they also enjoyed some delicious food.

A blog condensed vision of the future of Indianapolis as told in the style of buffet tweet hiakus, potentially offensively using a Japanese poetry form to highlight Szechwan cuisine.

His dark hair, his smile.
Ev’rybody Loves Raymond,
Flat screen reflects May.

Ice tea on the way,
green and black leafs crushed and seeped.
Diners fan the heat.

The desert dweller,
sings high praises to our land,
food from many lands.

Box stores beg new life,
Tire store with music and art,
Circuits swapped for health.

Japan spice hits nose,
while China spice hits the lips.
Kind host hits our mouth.

Crispy duck is near,
I scoop chicken and seafood.
They taste of spring sun.

Food be true to self,
in a land of stretched concrete.
Remember your roots.

Food is language.
We now speak with our kitchen,
listen with our gut.

Our food is our dress,
out of need it will evolve,
it is our season.

What more do we need?
Books, density, bikes.
Urban paintball wars?

We remember smells,
it is our strong memory.
Nose to brain to heart.

Need more than a gate
to the square, a world within.
The land is not ours.

We wait for the snow
from the north, to drift down here
to rest and invest.

Perhaps we bring meals
to the snow, from here to there
in the quiet glades.

The fish brings questions,
clothes remain clean and mess free.
The stomach is full.

Box up what remains
to eat for a future time,
Split the check, its late.

Chew On This conversation
Written by Michael Kaufmann (pictured above in an orange shirt). Michael is the former Program Director at Indiana Humanities and is currently Director of Special Projects and Civic Investment at Health and Hospital Corporation.