As part of our celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, Los Angeles Public Library staffers were challenged to write a haiku or tanka poem about their favorite food. We unveiled the first group of haikus last Friday, and now it’s tanka time! This challenge is running until the end of May, so make sure to check out our Instagram page for additional poems in the Eat Your Words! series, and feel free to post one of your own. Now grab yourself a knife and fork and chow down on these tankas!

Oh Poquito Mas,
I weep. Your steak burrito
is freakishly good.
Meat, cheese, guacamole make
mucho magic in my mouth.

—Christa Deitrick

Bread and butter are
So fine with cheese and olives
Include tomatoes
So sublime with ground pepper
A peasant’s palate is best

—Sheryn Morris

Corn souffle: luscious
sunshine sweet crazy creamy
so so comforting…
Dessert masquerading as
veg. What a tasty trickster!

—Mara Alpert

A divine meat sauce
tops delectable noodles.
Great flavors of beef,
bell pepper, and onion pair
with aromatic spices.

—Nina Beck

Beignets, hooray! I
get them every NOLA trip.
Piping hot fried dough
trailing powdered sugar clouds--
Why the heck did I wear black?

—Liz C.

See you on Friday for more haikus. Until then, go eat something delicious!

Enhanced photo illustrations courtesy of Aldrich Linton. Images are culled from Wikimedia Commons unless otherwise noted.