Today is the final Friday of April so my observance of National Poetry Month 2024 is drawing to a close. My original plan for this post was diverted when I was reminded this day is also National Pretzel Day! My, how my German ancestry taste buds began to salivate!Image may be NSFW.
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Yes, I will be making some soft pretzels later today. My brother (who lived in Germany for many years) will be coming for dinner and we’ll savor one of the many culinary delights passed down from our forebears.
Back in the early years of wiseblooding.com, I posted an image of the pretzel recipe I’d clipped out of a newspaper (when I was a high school student?). The news clipping mentions a National Pretzel Week, but all these years later, we’re limited to a single day. So let’s make the best of it, right? Soft, warm pretzels straight from the oven will also warm the heart.
The comfort food of a pretzel (or two) feeds my belly and my soul. With the woes of our world playing out on every newscast (whether television, radio, social media), it’s often hard to shut out the noise completely. Instead, our obsession with world events has the ability to consume us. I’ll be the first to admit I get sucked in … like that! (Did you hear me snap my fingers?)
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Taking care of my household, spending time with my Beloved and our extended family, there’s not much time left to sit down and write (whether poetry or prose). Here’s a question I often contemplate: Why should I fritter away that precious time to mull over the cares of this world? But occasionally, the noise seeps into and places its intrusive stamp on my writing. (Such was the unfortunate case for today’s sonnet.) Whenever world events intrude on my poetry, I usually try to complete the poem, while asking, will this piece ever see the light of day?
The background for this sonnet is, of course, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. I recall news reporters puzzling over Putin’s good guy/bad guy personna in their reports. When I queried AI today, the answer was predictably non-judgmental. “The answer to this question is multi-faceted and complex.” Thanks, AI. You really cleared that up!
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World events are an intractable mire, no matter what side of the globe on which you live. Few answers are forthcoming from the key people who are tasked with decision-making and pretend to know how to resolve matters.
I have one answer: leave behind the cares of this world and dive into a big batch of homemade soft pretzels! Kitchen, I’m coming your way!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
