Poetry Challenge #189-Leftovers Again??

In our old house what’s for dinner was never a question: Meatless Monday, Tuna Tuesday, Whatever Wednesday, Taco Thursday (yes, Tuna Noodle Casserole—don’t knock it…), Pizza Friday, Saturday and Sunday Surprise! That was then. Nowadays and since CoVid-19 struck every meal is a mystery. The only thing that’s remained is Whatever Wednesday as in Q: What’s for dinner? A: Whatever you can find. It’s our version of Leftover Night.

Thanks to my sis-in-law Valarie, who forwarded this The New Yorker article by Roz Chast, I’m realizing every house with a fridge has Leftover Night with at least 1700 different names for it. I know because Roz Chast, clever Instagramista @rozchast, took a poll. After reading through some options, I’m changing ours to Touski, the Quebecoise version of leftovers. It’s short for tout ce qui reste, “all that’s left.”

So, from this post on, Tuna Tuesday becomes Touski Tuesday for the way in sounds not because we have many leftovers on Tuesdays. With fridge pickings in mind, Touski Thursday would be better but it’s a tongue twister. And as food is the way to this writer’s soul and the sole purpose of this prompt is using up leftovers, let’s pull out our touskis (Ala Scarlet, the matter of what to do about tuna casserole will wait.)

Poetry Challenge #189

Leftovers Day aka Touski On!

The best thing about Leftovers Day (Touski Tuesday) are the strange combinations you can make into a meal.

The same goes for poems. Read through some old poems and pull out some juicy tidbits. They can be whole lines, phrases, or one special word. Combine your “leftovers” into something new.

Put 7 syllables/words onto the first line and 5 syllables/words onto the second line. Repeat this pattern for the whole poem.

Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes

Start Writing!

Don’t Think About it, just Toutski!

And, because I know you want—need it: Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole Recipe

Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 4 years ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

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