Write Your

Name in Gold
Thanksgiving 2023 | A Menu Poem
 Write Your
Name in Gold
Thanksgiving 2023 | A Menu Poem

GH
Buffalo, New York BLAZEVOX[BOOKS]
Thanksgiving Menu-Poem 2023,
Copyright © 2023 by Geoffrey Gatza
Published by BlazeVOX [books]

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without

the publisher’s written permission, except for brief quotations in reviews.

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition

BlazeVOX [books]
Geoffrey Gatza
131 Euclid Ave
Kenmore, NY 14217

Editor@blazevox.org

publisher of weird little books

BlazeVOX [ books ]
blazevox.org

21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
 Thanksgiving Menu
The Elements of Minimalism

Typography Hierarchy

Scallop Mousseline, Royal Osetra Caviar, Nori Blini Crisp Roast Duck, Five-Spice Chanterelles with Quince
Chestnut Risotto, Yuzu Syrup
Pear Cider, Eric Bordelet, Poirè Granit, Normandy, France 2021
Spi vs. Spy Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2021

Color
Contrast
Charred Octopus, Heart of Palm Gratin, Meyer Lemon Emulsion
Hamachi-Flying Fish Roe, Preserved Lemon,
Banker’s Blend, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022 Apple Roulade Roquefort Crème Fraîche

Three Bears Pome Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2021
Simplicity

Hibiscus Salad, Herbs, Ginger, Lime, Orange, Black Garlic Vinaigrette Texture

Goldrush, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022 Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Génoise Sponge,
Walnut Praliné, Chocolate Cayenne Bavarois

Negative space / White space Tokaji, Szamorodni, Lenkey Pincészet Tokaj, Hungary, 2017

Sauvignon Blanc Grape Sorbet, Black Sesame Chantilly

Redfield, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022

 Thanksgiving POEMS
Write Your Name in Gold

Typography

We Should All Be Pooping Champagne

Bad News
Lilacs Blooming
Rabbit in the Moonlight
Color Rain still a cloud

My Head is a lemon
To Stare is Human Hierarchy
An Apple in my Mind
One through Ten
After Aram Saroyan
Simplicity

Question Mark Contrast

Boook
Bunnny Gold & Silver
Fish flying in the raw wind Silver & Gold
Magic Fish in the Street

Texture
Negative space / White space
Disappointment Apples
Suppose they’ve known all along
Typoglycmia
Unfollow
Let’s Eat Fire
Nothing to Say
Learn More
 Hello and welcome to the 2023 Thanksgiving Menu-Poem. This is the twenty-
second incarnation of the Thanksgiving Menu-Poem! This series began in 2002 with a
Menu-Poem to honor Charles Bernstein, and since then this series engages Thanksgiving as
the basis to celebrate poetry, poets, and the poetry community. Being a trained professional
chef, I have blended my love of food and poetry into a book-length work as a feast of words
and art to bring everyone a tiny bit closer together.
This project is a conceptual meal served for the thousands of friends I would love to
have over to our home on Thanksgiving Day. Since it is unavoidably impossible to even
consider doing such a thing in real life, I have designed a menu of foodstuffs that reflect
upon the guest of honor as a person, a poet and their poetry. These works directly respond to
our surrounding environment and uses everyday experiences as a starting point. Often these
are framed instances that would go unnoticed in their original context. With a conceptual
approach, this menu-poem tries to increase the dynamic between audience and author by
objectifying emotions and investigating the duality that develops through different
interpretations.

The structure of the menu takes the form of the basic elements of minimalism
(Typography, Color, Simplicity, Negative space / White space, Hierarchy, Contrast, and
Texture). Starting with Typography to convey atmosphere and mood, then we look at
Color to convey movement and mood, which is downplayed in the next course, Simplicity.
Negative space / White space offers a break on the palate, which opens up the main
course, Hierarchy. We come down from the main course with Contrast, where each item
bounces between favors. And we end on different types of food materials and techniques
used to achieve varying textures. The autumnal season brings variety of senses to mind, and
with it a colorful, artful designs. The meal captures these through aroma, temperature
variations, mixed textures and flavor combinations that greet you with a serene, elegant
scenery of nature. This thanksgiving feast is complemented by seasonally selected
foodstuffs that not only taste well-balanced but are also pleasant to think about.
 paints, inks, and various media for the text. The pieces are mostly 16
x 20 inches, while others are smaller and some larger.
Apples appear as a minor theme in this menu-poem. Even
The pieces combine many styles: blending surrealism with
though we start the meal off with a collage of a Premier Cru
calligraphy, adding an additional letter to common words, and short
champagne from Dom Pérignon it is only made of paper. The
texts on textured grounding. The main series, One through Ten,
first wine is a Pear Cider from Eric Bordelet paired with Scallop
consists of eleven unassuming color field works emphasizing line,
Mousseline. This Normandy cider is very exciting, with complex
color, and simplicity. The poems address this season of change as an
and electric deep pear and apple flavors and a tartness that tingles
exploration of the cycles between thoughts of memory and the
on the tongue. Next up is a compelling series of ciders from
Blackduck Cidery, located in Finger Lakes, NY. thoughts of experience, these poems delve into the tradition of
remembrance as art, as an act of meditation. They question the
Banker’s Blend, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022
Goldrush, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022 conditions of appearance of an image in the context of contemporary
Redfield, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022
visual culture in which images, representations and ideas normally
Spi vs. Spy Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2021
Three Bears Pome Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2021 function. By experimenting with handwriting and textual processes,
these collages generate multiple meanings. Associations and
These five ciders are a perfect accompaniment to each dish, with
meanings collide. Space becomes time and language becomes image.
a fragrant nose and a floral aroma, tastes of crisp dry apple, lemon,
These art pieces focus on the instability of communication
pear, apricot, and pepper on the palate. These are a powerful,
which is used to visualize reality, the attempt of dialogue, the
balanced ciders and are very enjoyable.
dissonance between form and content and the dysfunctions of
And we finish the meal with a delightful Tokaji from
language. In short, the lack of clear references are key elements in the
Hungary. Tokaji is a late harvest wine with noble rot. It is sweet
work. By exploring the concept of collage in a reflective way, these
with a fresh peach, honey, and strong botrytis notes. It has a
pieces investigate the dynamics of language, including the
medium amber color with a nose of orange peel, figs, cinnamon
manipulation of its effects and the limits of spectacle based on our
and tastes of honey in mouth. It is not too heavy and very smooth.
assumptions of what the imagery and texts means to us. Rather than
presenting a factual reality, an illusion is fabricated to conjure the
realms of our imagination.
I hope you enjoy this meal, the menu, the collages, and the
This series consists of eight sets of poetries, comprising
poems. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
mostly of Collage poems, and one poem poem, titled,
Disappointment Apples. The Collage Poems are a combination of Rockets, Geoffrey
language and visual imagery constructed with watercolor paper,
 Write Your
Name in Gold
Thanksgiving 2023 | A Menu Poem

GH
 GH

Typography

Scallop Mousseline, Royal Osetra Caviar, Nori Blini

Pear Cider, Eric Bordelet, Poirè Granit, Normandy, France 2021

 GH

Color

Charred Octopus, Heart of Palm Gratin, Meyer Lemon Emulsion

Banker’s Blend, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022

 GH

Simplicity

Hibiscus Salad, Herbs, Ginger, Lime, Orange, Black Garlic Vinaigrette

Goldrush, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022

 GH

Negative space / White space

Sauvignon Blanc Grape Sorbet, Black Sesame Chantilly

Redfield, Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2022

 GH

Hierarchy

Crisp Roast Duck, Five-Spice Chanterelles with Quince

Chestnut Risotto, Yuzu Syrup

Spi vs. Spy Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2021
One through Ten
 GH

Contrast

Hamachi-Flying Fish Roe, Preserved Lemon,

Apple Roulade Roquefort Crème Fraîche

Three Bears Pome Blackduck Cidery, Finger Lakes, NY, USA 2021
 GH

Texture

Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Génoise Sponge,

Walnut Praliné, Chocolate Cayenne Bavarois

Tokaji, Szamorodni, Lenkey Pincészet Tokaj, Hungary, 2017

Disappointment Apples

There is a breezy kind of beauty in discovery,

Like a blood-orange sun setting on a cold day.

In French, apples are apples. Pommes.

In French, potatoes are earth-apples. Pommes de terre.

I worked as a chef for forty years, Sometimes

Living at the whims of cuisine as a bon vivant.

In that time, I hoped to create a portable

Dessert of crisp, French-fried apples.

Set in golden matchsticks, like gleaming

Red-boxed McDonald’s French fries.

Seductive warm apples, slightly sweet,

Somewhat sour, green and red apples.

Crisp like French fries are crisp,

Tender apple inside, like tarte tatin.

Cinnamon sugared. Waiting in rows

Under the sun-like lights of heat-lamps.

In Cooking, apples are pommes.

In Cooking, potatoes are pommes.

Under the unity of knowledge

I hoped to bridge that gap, but

Much to my disappointment
Apples are not potatoes

And do not behave

The same way in hot oil.
Notes:
An Apple in my Mind, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 24

Art Thieves, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 15

Bad News, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 20

Boook, 2023, Mixed Media Calligraphy, 16 x 20

Bunnny, 2023, Mixed Media Calligraphy, 16 x 20

Disappointment Apples, Poem by Geoffrey Gatza

Fish flying in the raw wind, 2023, Mixed Media Calligraphy, 11 x 14

Gold & Silver, 2023, Mixed Media Calligraphy, 16 x 20

Learn More, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 20

Let’s Eat Fire, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 5.5 x 11

Lilacs Blooming, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 20

Magic Fish in the Street, 2023, Mixed Media Calligraphy, 11 x 14

My Head is a lemon, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 20

Nothing to Say, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 11 x 14

One through Ten, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, Series of 11, 16 x 20

Question Mark, 2023, Mixed Media Calligraphy, 16 x 20

Rabbit in the Moonlight, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 20

Rain still a cloud, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 20

Suppose they’ve known all along, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 11 x 14

To Stare is Human, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 16 x 24

Typoglycmia, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 11 x 14

Unfollow, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 11 x 14

We Should All be Pooping Champagne, 2023, Mixed Media Collage, 9.5 x 27.5
Geoffrey Gatza is an award winning editor,
publisher and poet. He is the driving force
behind BlazeVOX, a small press located in
Buffalo, NY and was named by the
Huffington Post as one of the Top 200
Advocates for American Poetry. He is the
author many books of poetry, including A
Dog Lost in the Brick City of Outlawed Trees,
(Mute Canary 2018) Apollo (BlazeVOX
2014) and HouseCat Kung Fu: Strange
Poems for Wild Children (Meritage 2009).
Most recently his work has appeared in
FENCE, Datableed, Delete and Tarpaulin
Sky. His latest book, The Albatross Around
the Neck of Albert Ross, Strange Stories for
Wild Children was released in February
from Lavender Ink Press.

His writings are based on inspiring

situations: visions that reflect a sensation
of indisputability and serene
contemplation, combined with subtle
details of odd or eccentric, humoristic
elements. With a subtle minimalistic
approach, his works references surrealism
as well as the avant-garde or the post-
modern and the left-wing democratic
movement. He lives in Kenmore, NY with his girlfriend and two beloved cats.

Kenyon Review, Publisher’s Spotlight: https://www.kenyonreview.org/2019/06/publisher-spotlight-geoffrey-gatza-of-

blazevox-books/

‘A much-needed sense of joy’: A Conversation with Geoffrey Gatza about Writing, Publishing, and Fiction for Young
Readers – curated by Kristina Marie Darling
https://www.tupeloquarterly.com/a-much-needed-sense-of-joy-a-conversation-with-geoffrey-
gatza-about-writing-publishing-and-fiction-for-young-readers-curated-by-kristina-marie-darling/

http://www.blazevox.org