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PORTSIDE CULTURE

PEELING POTATOES  
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Nels Goñi Christianson

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_ California poet Nels Goñi Christianson honors the women who made
him the man he is, their often undervalued care and strength. _

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my mother who was born in Susanville, California
prosperous logging town not far from Reno
grew up poor the daughter of Basque immigrants
whose father spent months far away in roadless
barren country herding sheep
whose apron-clad mother stood by the iron stove
prodding a soup out of one sausage
one onion and six peeled potatoes for herself
and four children

I used to watch my mother peel potatoes at the sink
holding each one carefully as she turned it
what are you making, Mom
I knew her answer: beef stew
I saw the large chunks of meat in the pot
her hands held and turned each potato
she dug out flesh around each eye
so many dismembered eyes falling into the sink
_why do you cut out every one so patiently_
_I think of my mother_ she’d say
_it was the way she saved as much potato as she could_

_Nels Goñi Christianson is a native of rural Merced County from which
he draws much inspiration for his poetry. He was a board member of
CalPoets from 2009-2023. A few years ago, he co-coordinated a 2-year
poetry composition program which was a CalPoets/Beyond Baroque
collaboration in Venice, California._

* Immigrants
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* food
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* poverty
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INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

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