In times where we are seeing nationalism projected as tradition, and waves of propaganda that pivot around rewriting history to project a faux 'pure' American identity, this poem is a well-timed, artful depiction of how racism and anti-immigrant rhetoric are contrary to the building blocks of what made USA the country that it is/was.
The extended metaphor of baking, and how each ingredient is pivotal to making the apple pie, is a powerful means of driving home the message of how important diversity is, and how the sum of diverse parts can only be conducive to making a greater whole.
Thank you so much for engaging with the poem so meaningfully. Your comment captures the exact tension I hoped to explore, how history is being polished and repackaged to justify exclusion. Seeing that reflected in your response truly means the world to me.
Excellent poem. Love the extended metaphor and how it can be read as both a person and father at a family dinner and a citizen and and occupant of the White House.
Thank you so much, Catherine. I’m really glad you noticed the layered meaning. I hoped the poem could speak to both the personal and the political, especially how what happens at the dinner table often echoes what’s happening in the halls of power. I so appreciate your thoughtful reading.
In times where we are seeing nationalism projected as tradition, and waves of propaganda that pivot around rewriting history to project a faux 'pure' American identity, this poem is a well-timed, artful depiction of how racism and anti-immigrant rhetoric are contrary to the building blocks of what made USA the country that it is/was.
The extended metaphor of baking, and how each ingredient is pivotal to making the apple pie, is a powerful means of driving home the message of how important diversity is, and how the sum of diverse parts can only be conducive to making a greater whole.
Thank you so much for engaging with the poem so meaningfully. Your comment captures the exact tension I hoped to explore, how history is being polished and repackaged to justify exclusion. Seeing that reflected in your response truly means the world to me.
Excellent poem. Love the extended metaphor and how it can be read as both a person and father at a family dinner and a citizen and and occupant of the White House.
Thank you so much, Catherine. I’m really glad you noticed the layered meaning. I hoped the poem could speak to both the personal and the political, especially how what happens at the dinner table often echoes what’s happening in the halls of power. I so appreciate your thoughtful reading.
You're welcome. I think politics begins in the family.