Poem: Just Go Home and Eat

Don’t drive through
The red and yellow
Plastic craptastic
Deep fried
Special sauce
Ain’t no path to Oz
You won’t find happy
In a Happy Meal
Happiness
Is something real
Move your feet
Just go home and eat
Don’t stand in line
Rehearsing your order
Grande crappucino
Half-caff, full mental
What you hunger for
You won’t find there
You don’t need a treat
Just go home and eat
Don’t eat that sugary shit
Addictive additives
You don’t need a sweet
Just go home and eat
The food you already bought
Don’t neglect
Don’t let it rot
Slice that watermelon
Dig in
Let the juice drip down your chin
Don’t wander the aisles
Haunted, craving
Don’t be seduced
By advertising smiles
Go back to your yard
Snip a piece of chard
Pick an apple from the tree
Watch the clouds
Slow down and be
Food ain’t here
To entertain you and excite you
It’s here to sustain you
Thus delight you
Relight you,
Your eyes brighten
The weight on your shoulders
Lighten
Hungry?
Just go home and eat
—
About the poem:
I have to tell myself all this every day. Every frickin day.
Yesterday, I was parked and planning to buy a coffee and sandwich. I paused and told myself nearly this entire story and then instead of going in, I left. I just went home and ate. It felt nourishing on many, many levels.
How many of our current challenges are due to our reluctance to just go home and eat? Did you know that in Colorado 2-3% of our food purchases are local and yet we export food. Huh? We can make a big change simply by choosing our food more carefully. And for the most part, that means that we buy local and just eat at home, more. It’s a huge act of care: self-care and care for the planet.