'The way to a man's heart' by Derek Parkes
The way to a man’s heart
The way to a man’s heart,
my mother thought,
was through his stomach.
That second plate of chips,
the extra sugar on the cornflakes
and the gold-top milk, thick and
cold from the doorstep.
A blind eye turned to biscuits
and surreptitious sweets and cake.
And all for love.
She didn't understand where all
the fat was coming from,
‘He goes swimming all the time.’
Yes, but the baths had a snack shop.
Comments
Author: This is a more personal poem. I had a ‘healthy’ appetite as a child, which was anything but healthy. Chips with everything - I’m still paying the price for it.
Our readers who ranked the poems:
- strong evoking of the role of the mother in food, eating and love
- contains a very strong messages of why and how eating disorders manifest themselves. They clearly give a message of how ‘control’ is a big issue.
- I loved the simplicity of this poem and the childhood visual image it evoked of the “gold top milk”. The little twist at the very end made me laugh and I felt this was accessible to all, not simply those who had/have a disordered relationship with food, but any relationship with food, exercise and the endless merry go round of both.
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