Back in 1996, I had an idea.\u00a0I think this idea was somehow inspired by my high school friend, Robin and by the latest advance in communication\u2014email. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The idea: SPAM\u00ae haiku.<\/p>\n
At the time, I had 34, what we now call, contacts. They included Robin, of course, several university friends, and my colleagues at Abbotsford Christian School. I sent them all an email soliciting haiku poems on the subject of SPAM. I mean the “meat” that comes in the blue can, not the unwanted messages that inundate your inbox.<\/p>\n
Ed Noot was, at first, reticent:<\/p>\n
SPAM haiku you say? Robin submitted this poem on SPAM origins:<\/p>\n A G.I.’s glad feast Ed Noot and I were on the same wavelength with these:<\/p>\n Ultra preserved slabs Found at future dig My dear friend from university, MaryLou, must have been thinking of SPAM continuously, because she wrote so many. Here are two samples:<\/p>\n I gravely wonder,<\/em> Magnificent SPAM. Many of the poems were about the mysterious ingredients<\/span><\/strong> in SPAM. This one comes from Henry, who is currently working at Langley Christian School:<\/p>\n Juicy pink mouthful<\/em> Some of my favourite contributions lead to more philosophical speculations<\/span><\/strong>. This one came from Ken, my friend and pastor at the time:<\/p>\n Spamming horizons<\/em> Another from MaryLou, this haiku smells of cultural commentary<\/span><\/strong>:<\/p>\n SPAM allegory<\/em> Roy Van Eerden thought:<\/p>\n It can’t be all bad<\/em> This is a Mike Bakker contribution:<\/p>\n An offering pink<\/em> I think this was written by former colleagues, Jeannette Berkenbosch and Karen Van Egmond:<\/p>\n Smooth and jellied meat<\/em> I have attempted to relive the magic of the SPAM Haiku Email Project in my English 12 class with some success. It was a lot of fun to introduce students to this much maligned delicacy in order to unlock their creative impulses.\u00a0<\/p>\n But I will never forget the original which brought together dear friends from my past with those of my present.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Feel free to pick up a can of SPAM, and after you open, smell, taste and study the pink contents of the blue can, submit your three line (5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable) poem in the comment section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Back in 1996, I had an idea.\u00a0I think this idea was somehow inspired by my high school friend, Robin and by the latest advance in communication\u2014email. \u00a0 The idea: SPAM\u00ae haiku. At the time, I had 34, what we now call, contacts. They included Robin, of course, several university friends, and my colleagues at Abbotsford […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":1587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-secondary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1533"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/em>What a total waste of time
<\/em>U<\/em>seless stewardship
<\/em>EN<\/p>\n
<\/em>Legacy of World War Two
<\/em>Like the atom bomb
<\/em>RH<\/p>\n
<\/em>Of petrified pork and stuff
<\/em>Last for a decade
<\/em>EN<\/p>\n
<\/em>Pink cube, icon of lost age
<\/em>Unexpected lunch
<\/em>TDJ<\/p>\n
What type of meat comes in cans?<\/em>
Ambivalence grows<\/em>
ML<\/p>\n
<\/em>Hidden from sight by can.
<\/em>Oh, hidden temptress.
<\/em>ML<\/p>\n
Gelatinous viscera<\/em>
Red dye number 6<\/em>
HV<\/p>\n
Considering our life spam<\/em>
Giving SPAM away<\/em>
KB<\/p>\n
It’s the pig’s part melting pot<\/em>
Unremarkable<\/em>
ML\u00a0<\/p>\n
After all Costco sells it<\/em>
Three for five eighty nine<\/em>
RV<\/p>\n
Given but not welcoming<\/em>
Smirks at our unease<\/em>
MB<\/p>\n
Slides down my esophagus<\/em>
And back up again<\/em>
J&K<\/p>\n