DeKalb county community members came together to explore the simple but powerful sentiment behind sharing food Thursday evening.
The DeKalb County History Center hosted a community poetry event, “Eat Your Words,” in conjunction with their newest exhibit “Food: Gathering Around the Table.”
The featured guest readers, local poets John Bradley, Joe Gastiger, Susan Azar Potterfield and Marilyn Cleland, discussed aspects in which people come together over food and the historical significance of this often overlooked part of life.
“I’ve certainly read things that talk about food in a kind of sacramental way, or in a sentimental way, that food is an essential part of your identity,” Gastiger said.
Bradley expressed not only the importance of such a topic but also the joy that comes from writing about these shared experiences.
“Food is sensual, and poetry can accommodate that; alliteration, assonance, metaphors. It’s a fun topic to write about,” Bradley said.
With attendees gathering in chairs around a podium, the evening began as Potterfield set the tone with a touching read of her poem “kibbe” which gave reverence to food as a link to the childhood memories people cherish all through life.
“Everybody has history, people don’t really think about it that way,” Donahoe said.
The following reads from Bradley, Cleland and Gastiger all shared in honoring and appreciating food’s significance in our lives.
From curious discoveries about the intricate structure of a pomegranate to the remembrance of childhood preparations of chicken noodle soup, every poet brought heartwarming, authentic and somber delicacies to the table.
“It was wonderful, I was kind of expecting them to do more of their own poetry, but it was cool they picked some favorites around the food theme, it was nice they wove their own among these familiar ones too,” said Sycamore resident Jayne Higgins who attended the event with her granddaughter.
The night concluded with the audience visiting with each other, discussing the poems and eating snacks.
“(I think tonight was) a success, new faces in the room and people that might not necessarily think they are history buffs came because they like poetry and then went ‘oh maybe i should check out the exhibit!’” said Michelle Donahoe, the DeKalb County History Center’s executive director.
You can find more information about the History Center’s upcoming events on their website.
