THE PLASTICITY OF PORRIDGE

THE PLASTICITY OF PORRIDGE

The milk poured, the oats added,

The flame is lit beneath

The glooping, bubbling starts,

And the stirring stirs my thoughts

Each and every time I wonder this

Whether there are big sums which could

Answer my question - once and for all

About the movement as saucepans boil

It’s about the plasticity of porridge

That I wonder every week

As I plunge the spoon right in quick

To complete the conjuring trick

If I only stirred anti-clockwise

Only at the perimeter of the pan

Would the porridge in the middle

Never move around and mingle?

Is the porridge in the middle

Less porridge-y than the rest?

Is the circumferential porridge

The porridge that is best?

Another question comes to mind

After porridge-eating is all done

Is when it comes to washing up

And all the porridge left behind

Why is it that no matter how much

Gets scraped into those bowls

There’s always so much left within

The pan sitting on the sink side

Porridge is quite magical

Breakfast food that’s hard to beat

But when you come to wash it up

It sets like solid concrete

Martin A W Holmes, Oct 2016