Patti Tana – String Poet

The Writing Diet

When I write down everything I eat
— every almond —
I look at food differently.

Soon my body feels different.
I move more gracefully.
My posture is more balanced.

A spoon is not a shovel.
Eating is respectful,
deliberate, nourishing.

The bowl fits comfortably
in my cupped hands.
Food tastes good when I’m hungry.

After a lifetime of fullness
the satisfaction of enough.

Patti Tana is Professor Emerita of English at Nassau Community College (SUNY) and the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association 2009 Poet of the Year. She is editor of the poetry anthology Songs of Seasoned Women and associate editor of the Long Island Quarterly. Her ninth book of poems is All I Can Gather & Give (JB Stillwater Publishing, 2014), which is being considered for The Pushcart Prize.