"Your hair is a chicken salad" and other metaphors are hard to understand
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (52227)
Staten Island, New York
October 29, 2018 12:06pm CST
So I am currently reading this poetry book called Falling Hard (edited by Betsy Franco) that features 100 love poems written by teens.
Yesterday, I stumbled upon one poem called "Look at my feet" (written by 16-yr-old Seph Kramer) where the poet uses metaphors to describe some body parts.
The opening line of the poem is:
Your hair is a chicken salad
The next three lines that follow are:
Your forehead, an apple, extra fancy
Your nose, a flat steak
Your ears, paper plates of a stegosaurus
What the heck is the poet trying to say here? What are these metaphors supposed to mean?
I, myself, am a poet and I have no idea what the poet is trying to say...
2 people like this
2 responses
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
29 Oct 18
That's not bad for a 16-year-old! He (I presume Seph means a "he") is using language in unexpected ways that make the reader stop and wonder what is being referred to. Different readers might think different things - which is very much in the poet's favour. A poem that only has one interpretation is surely far less enterprising than one that has many!
@lovebuglena (52227)
• Staten Island, New York
29 Oct 18
@indexer A poem that can mean different things to different people is probably better than a poem with just one meaning. Trying to figure out what the poet means to say here is hard. What do you think he (or she) is trying to say?
1 person likes this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
29 Oct 18
@lovebuglena A chicken salad? A bit of a mess, maybe, or perhaps the person has tried dyeing their hair and it has gone wrong, with all sorts of different colours mixed together!
An extra fancy apple? A tattoo that didn't work?
A flat steak nose? Thin and red?
Paper stegosaurus plates? Floppy and angular?
I think we can agree that the person being described won't win any beauty contests!
@lovebuglena (52227)
• Staten Island, New York
29 Oct 18
@indexer Your interpretations are good. The person won't win any beauty contests that is for sure...
@lovebuglena (52227)
• Staten Island, New York
30 Oct 18
I did not find these lines funny, but I did find them a bit weird.



