Summer is the season of barbeques, fresh fruit, and culinary pleasures. Enjoy the poems on the menu below and share them across the dinner table or over cocktails.

 

 

Food Poems

This Is Just to Say

by William Carlos Williams
Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape by John Ashbery
Eating Poetry by Mark Strand
Watermelons by Charles Simic
First Fig by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Tender Buttons [Chicken]

by Gertrude Stein
You & I Belong in This Kitchen
by Juan Felipe Herrera
SPAM's carbon footprint

by Craig Santos Perez
The Bean Eaters by Gwendolyn Brooks
cutting greens by Lucille Clifton  

Poets' Recipes
Poets' Recipes
 
What do poets like to cook? We asked CA Conrad, J. D. McClatchy, Tracy K. Smith, and others to share a handwritten recipe of a favorite dish or drink they like to indulge in.
 
The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink, edited by Kevin Young
Featured Anthologies: Food Poems
 
Poets have often been inspired by the ritual of cooking and dining. Here are nine books about food and drink that are sure to be a hit at your next dinner party.

Anthony Bourdain
 
Chef and author of the New York Times bestseller Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly Anthony Bourdain reads Daniel Halpern's poem "How to Eat Alone" at the Academy's 2010 tribute to Halpern at New York University.

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Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org. Ron Padgett photograph by John Sarsgard, courtesy of Coffee House Press.