Rattle #88, Summer 2025: Tribute to Food Poems

The Summer 2025 issue focuses on a topic dear to everyone: food. Food writing itself is a vibrant industry, but writing about food is harder than it seems. There are fewer words for flavor than their are for the other senses, and so many of the words we do have to describe what we eat are cliché. Often, writing about food comes down to the journey. We explore this in the conversation with perhaps the best food writer alive, former editor of Gourmet magazine, Ruth Reichl. As always, the open section features an eclectic set of unforgettable poems to kick it off.Food PoemsLast Rodeo by Sherri AlmsWhen I Didn't Eat, It Wasn't Food I Was Saying ... by Michael BattistoFeed by Jared M. CampbellChit Chat by Alison DavisSandwich Standoff by Thad DeVassieLesson in Mathematics by Amy Dougher-SolórzanoIf There Is Anyone Who Can Give You Permission by Morrow DowdleGood Humor Freezer by Meg EdenBonagameise by Gail EisenhartFeast by Janet FitchIn Praise of Pyrex by Paige GilchristMom's Steamed Chicken Recipe by Tai Wei GuoAfternoons with the Market Vendor by P.W. JarungpiterahOn Finding a Bit of Theodore Roethke's Poem... by Paul JonesHam Sandwich by Tamara KreutzMy Mother's Kitchen by Sneha Madhavan-ReeseThe Patron Saint of Fluster by James Davis MayDropping the Pickle by Howard NelsonOn Our First Date, He Takes Me to a Fancy French... by Yoda OlinykLast Supper by Chiwenite OnyekweluI Can't Say Much on Camembert Or by J.B. PennameBad Bacon by John PochEdible Poetry by Lisa J. RobertsThe Bottomless Pit by Mather SchneiderThe Lord's Asado by Francisco Castro VidelaOpen PoetryLascaux by Lewis BuzbeePodcast by John GlowneyDolorimetry by Nick Lantz17. 50 an Hour by Sarah LemanRoach by Patricia NdombeNew Jersey Woman Wins $2M in Atlantic City... by Lexi PelleBottle Spinning and When All the Books Are Gone by Jessy RandallCoins Stacked on a Gravestone and The Mousetrap by Daniel SeifertThe Mirror Stageby Ravi ShankarMormon Missionariesby Gwendolyn SoperShe Won't Take Her Medicine by Lauren TessTouch by Matthew ThorburnAbout a Lady by Brandon L. Williams Conversation with Ruth ReichlCover by Heather Ihn Martin