Description
Epicurean Ecstasy:
More Poems about Food, Drink, Herbs & Spices
by Cynthia Gallaher
In Epicurean Ecstasy: More Poems About Food, Drink, Herbs and Spices, Cynthia Gallaher celebrates not only historical and modern pleasures of the kitchen and the table, but also the seasonal evolutions that take place in the cultivated fields and wild terrains, and of those who harvest these foods and bring nourishment to our homes.
Epicurean Ecstasy is the larger sequel to Omnivore Odes, a chapbook of 22 poems which appeared a handful of years ago from Finishing Line Press. Thus, the “More” in Epicurean Ecstasy, with all new and a greater number of poems not found in the first volume.
A Sample Poem from the book:
“Massachusetts Cranberries”
afloat, a party of redheads on a giant waterbed,
squeezed into cozy corners before they freeze
by sleepy workers hip-high in prophylactic waders.
or are they gathered like scarlet colonies
of miniature planet mars vanquished to earth,
set loose from ancient-armored spaceships barrels.
through the processing factory window
brigades of tangy spheres bounce madly
florid against the backdrop of thick snow.
then bagged like pachinko parlor booty,
to soon become Thanksgiving sauce,
tart juice tender to holding tanks,
or strung white, red, white, red,
both self-contained and exploded on thread
in rows with popcorn.
About the Author
Cynthia Gallaher is author of three other full poetry collections: Earth Elegance, Swimmer’s Prayer and Night Ribbons, and three poetry chapbooks: Drenched: Poems About Liquids; Omnivore Odes: Poems About Food, Herbs and Spices; and Private, On Purpose.
She also published the nonfiction memoir and reference Frugal Poets’ Guide to Life: How to Live a Poetic Life, Even If You Aren’t a Poet, which won a National Indie Excellence Award.
Gallaher appears on Chicago Public Library’s list of “Top Ten Requested Chicago Poets,” and was named one of “100 Women Making a Difference” by Today’s Chicago Woman magazine for her writing and ecological work. She has also received numerous grants from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council.
Committed to the organic and sustainable foods movement, and a proponent of clean drinking water, Gallaher is a former officer on the board of directors of Illinois Consumers for Safe Food (a local affiliate of The Center for Science in the Public Interest) and has also served as a volunteer for Lake Michigan Federation’s (now the Alliance for the Great Lakes) Shorekeepers initiative and the Green Team of the Chicago Park District. She is also a certified yoga instructor and aromatherapist.
Advance Praise for Epicurean Ecstasy
Cynthia Gallaher weaves threads of science with seeds of the sacred. The result – a walk along a path that informs with delight. Certainly the best herbal poetry since Shakespeare.
— Steven Foster, senior author of National Geographic’s A Desk Reference of Nature’s Medicine and
Peterson’s A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs
Epicurean Ecstasy: More Poems About Food, Drink, Herbs and Spices is extraordinarily enjoyable; it prompted me to reconsider nourishment and what our own spiritual sustainability requires. Intelligent. Satisfying. Just beautiful. I’m awestruck by Gallaher’s dedication in playing a role on insisting on good, healthy food for the community.
— Dee Sweet, Associate Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay,
and Wisconsin State Poet Laureate Emerita
Book Launch Readings
at 7:00 pm
Poetry reading featuring
Cynthia Gallaher, Susanna Lang & Jennifer Steele
Oak Park Public Library
834 Lake Street
Oak Park, IL 60301
708-383-8200
at 1:00 pm
Poetry reading featuring Cynthia Gallaher & Jamie Wendt
Normal Public Library
206 W. College Ave.
Normal, IL 61761
(309) 452-1757
at 6:00 pm
Poetry reading featuring Cynthia Gallaher &Jacob Saenz
Highland Park Poetry
Coffee Speaks
610 Central Avenue
Highland Park, IL
at 12:30 pm
Poetry reading featuring Cynthia Gallaher
& Wilda Morris
at
Brewed Awakening
19 W Quincy St
Westmont, IL 60559
(630) 852-2233
at 6:30 pm
Poetry reading featuring
Cynthia Gallaher
Independence Branch Library
Chicago Public Library
4024 N Elston Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
(312) 744-0900
at 7:00 pm
Poetry reading featuring
Cynthia Gallaher and five other Chicago poets
at
The Book Cellar
4736-38 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago IL 60625
(773)293-2665
at 3:00 pm
“Women’s Voices” Reading
Austin-Irving Branch
Chicago Public Library
6100 W. Irving Park Rd,
Chicago, IL 60634
(312) 744-6222.
at 5:00 pm
Poetry reading featuring Cynthia Gallaher,
Marty McConnell & Carlos Cumpian
City Lit Books
2523 N. Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 235-2523.
Jenene Ravesloot –
“Cynthia Gallaher’s cornucopia of passionate and poetic poems takes you on a surprise journey through the diverse world of food, drink, herbs, and spices. Savor the delights that each poem offers, see the egg with refreshed eyes, taste Massachusetts cranberries, breathe in the aroma of oregano and so much more in this exciting epicurean romp. Like any good journey you’ll return with some delicious tales to tell.”
~ Jenene Ravesloot, author of Sliders, The Chronicles of Scarbo, and Floating Worlds, and co-host of Chicago’s Poetry Night at the Outdoor Cafe
Debra Gregory-Voss –
You will love this book especially if you are a foodie…beautifully written .. it’s educational and pairs knowledge and inner soul experience and is easy to read…a great gift for that dinner party you are going to…a great book to have on your coffee table…
Sharon Lichter –
from Sharon Lichter on January 23, 2019
Whimsical Food Romp
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Epicurean Ecstasy. Not only was the poetry wonderful, but I learned a lot about certain foods and especially about herbs and spices.
My favorite poem was “Found Champagne Poem in an Unclaimed Wisconsin Corner”.
Lennart Lundh –
Cynthia Gallaher’s newest collections of poems, Epicurean Ecstasy, is exactly what the subtitle promises: more verse about food, drink, herbs, and spices. The “more” references a previous chapbook, Omnivore Odes, while the promised topics are delivered in full across the sixty-four poems included. We begin the buffet with champagne and eggs, proceed through various offerings of fruits, vegetables, and spices, and spend the last third of our time at the table amongst the delightful and healing herbs. Along the way, our guide treats us to histories, geographies, and lists of uses. From “Egg World” (page 13):
taking the same time as an over-easy whirl,
adding orderly, odd moments to peck around
and get cozy on her nest,
the chicken lays her egg.
“Massachusetts Cranberries” (page 21) asks:
. . .are they gathered like scarlet colonies
of miniature planet mars vanquished to earth,
set loose from ancient-armored spaceship barrels[?]
while “Purple Coneflower Echinacea” (page 78) is credited with:
arming us
with abundant arsenals
of roots in our cellars
to help make the common cold
a scarcity.
Overall, the poems are entertaining and enlightening. The choice of free verse for a collection which is light, but not frivolous, seems perfect. Forced rhyme on top of the easy-going tone might have lent a nursery rhyme feel, as it does momentarily when “The Irish Potato Famine” (page 54) unexpectedly dips briefly into and out of an abcb pattern.
The risks of rhyme having been wisely sidestepped, as a reader I found occasional difficulties with the flow of some of the poems. In addition to a general absence of leading capitalization, there is an inconsistency in the use of punctuation, leading to a mix of very fragmentary and very long strings of clauses running across multiple verses, as in “All-American Blueberries (page 19). This is, of course, a function of the poet’s voice, and I know from experience that Gallaher reads her poems wonderfully to her audience. For the reader coming to these poems for the first time by way of the page, however, there are some slippery spots to navigate.
Absent in the tight focus on the specific subjects of Gallaher’s collection, and I think intentionally, is much in the way of human association with food. The reader is gently lectured, but there are no universal conclusions drawn. The few exceptions, such as the close of “Humble Onion” (page 60) and the beautiful “Sage, Cedar and Sweetgrass: Sacred Healing Smoke” (page 70) are noteworthy. This is not a shortcoming, and indeed might be the only practical way to approach the poet’s chosen task.
Epicurean Ecstasy is a project at which Gallaher fully succeeds. Any reader wanting what might be thought of as the backstory or personal life of food will be amply rewarded.
******
About the reviewer: Lennart Lundh is the author of sixteen books of poetry, two collections of short-fiction, and six works on military aviation history. His work has appeared internationally since 1965.
A Jenene Ravesloot Review –
A Jenene Ravesloot Review of “EPICUREAN ECSTASY: More Poems About Food, Drink, Herbs & Spices” by Cynthia Gallaher
In Cynthia Gallaher’s collection of 64 poems of praise for all things epicurean, we are introduced to, for one, the wonderful world of the egg. Stanza by breathless stanza, the egg,—“encased among straw each morning” awaits us “right in time for breakfast” at the end of the last line, as well as other pleasures as we move from this poem to other impeccably crafted,—and minutely researched poems.
What surprises await us, what gems of information to wonder and savor: who knew that figs are not the vegan treat we thought they were, but rather an amalgam of wasp wings, wasp antennae, wasp feet, and other material, as so aptly mentioned in the title of “Figs: Animal, Vegetable and Mineral?” Who knew that every honey hive hums in “C-sharp below middle C”? Who knew that asparagus “can grow s e v e n inches in one day?” You will find these and so many other fascinating ‘foodie’ facts in this wise verbal romp.
There is magic here in these mostly free verse poems, various in format, and length that sing thanks to Cynthia’s refined attention to language and how language can sound. What also pleases this reader is Cynthia Gallaher’s light touch and humor throughout this book of poetry that keeps the poems moving from page to page with great élan and zing.
Perhaps this is the time to share 3 stanzas out of 5 stanzas from one of Cynthia Gallaher’s poems that nicely illustrates her alliterative/verbal magic. The poem is titled—“Massachusetts Cranberries”
afloat, a party of redheads on a giant waterbed,
squeezed into cozy corners before they freeze
by sleepy workers hip-high on prophylactic waders
or are they gathered like scarlet colonies
of miniature planet mars vanquished to earth
set loose from ancient-armored spaceships barrels.
through the processing factory window
brigades of tangy spheres bounce madly
florid against the backdrop of thick snow.
Please notice the lovely control of the three stanzas, and the precise and vivid language throughout.
There are so many delightful poems in “EPICUREAN ECSTASY.” Here is another example:
“Sprouts”
(6 stanzas out of 9 stanzas)
is the tangled tango at the salad bar
a dance floor? or ritual of mung, alfalfa,
garbanzo, radish sprouts,
at the superfoods temple.
skinny legs genuflect
as regularly as altar boys.
how many times have your hosts dried,
died and arisen from pure water?
no clock, climate, soil or sunshine,
only moisture needs coax you to unwind
your wiry explosions of life to jette
in a roundabout way.
Notice again, the control of stanzas, the jauntiness of language, its insouciance. The author finds great delight in delighting us and she has succeeded beautifully.