“Ode to Spicy Noodles”

Poem by Vivian Wang (11).

Oh, I wonder how you can be so perfect

A thick golden glaze glistening in glory

Pale flour dusted onto a clump of dough

Tender chunks folded into perfect rows

Slathered in strips of slippery grease.

Fresh scallion loops crunching crisply under my teeth

Pepper flakes sizzling with ease,

A pool of red and yellow 

Like a volcano eruption

Of molten lava in bubbling steam.

Oh, the way you wiggle through the haze,

Flopping down like a spineless creature

Fiery spots blazing through napkins,

Smoothly splashing a scene 

To make your entrance seen.

Oh, how the tiny red flakes slip past my taste buds

A comforting numb to the tongue

The warmth against my trembling fingers,

Traveling up my wiggly veins

Then a surge of dopamine shooting through my brain.

Oh, this is the feeling of happiness,

indeed.