Weekend Poetry: Chicken Spaghetti

Photograph by Saroy. Source: Flickr. Used under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDervivs 2.0 Generic license. 

When I started this blog in 2005, my first idea was to make the whole thing about chicken spaghetti, a favorite casserole of my Southern childhood. I thought about posting variations on the recipe and photos of how they turned out. However, I soon realized that an audience for such a blog would be non-existent tiny. So, instead I turned my attention to kids' books, but kept the name since it seemed child-friendly.

I still think about the dish, though, and, after a Twitter search, have located my fellow casserole people. Like me, lots of other folks like their mom's version, Grandma's, Aunt So-and-So's, and when they're really pleased with their own efforts, they post pictures.

On Twitter, chicken spaghetti = happiness, and these tweets are music to my ears. I removed hash tags, added some punctuation, and stirred some of the short odes into a poem. Here goes:

 

Chicken Spaghetti: A Found Poem from Twitter

Y'all, I can cook.

Sauteeing burns my eyes

but it is worth it

in the end.

My dish!!

Chicken spaghetti.

Remember how excited we got

when we thought about

chicken spaghetti?

Ya girl throws down

chicken spaghetti

                    and garlic bread.

Anna Beth is at it again.

Chicken spaghetti!

Chicken spaghetti, rolls, corn on a cob,

                    kiss the cook.

And on the 8th day

God made chicken spaghetti,

and all was good.

I'm cooking collard greens, 

chicken spaghetti and fried porkchops!! 

Jalapeño cornbread! Boom!

                                                  If you can cook chicken spaghetti, I'll probably

                                                                    marry you. 

Comments

[Little Willow]

I especially like that first line!

[Michelle]

Adorable!

[Susan T.]

Little Willow! Yes, that first line is awesome. I just loved the pride in so many of the posts I found. Probably the cooks are young.

Michelle, thank ya very kindly! I haven't made it in a while, mostly owing to the fact that I eat at least three servings at one sitting.

[Kelly Ramsdell Fineman]

Nice!

I have yet to make chicken spaghetti. Will have to try it this week.

[Susan T.]

Let me know how you like it, Kelly. There are many versions, most involving cream of mushroom soup!

[adrienne]

I really have to make chicken spaghetti one of these days.

[Susan]

Adrienne, it's a very satisfying casserole, and lends itself to multiple helpings.