Poems From The Kitchen Table

Written in a creative writing class at Stanford

Salty and sweet,
Greasy and lumpy.
In Venezuela, there’s no peanut treat—
It sticks to your palate and also your teeth.

Greasy and lumpy—
I love it, indeed.
It sticks to your palate and also your teeth,
A flavor that children and mothers all need.

Mix peanut butter and jelly with glee,
A nutty delight that takes you to heaven.
A flavor that children and mothers all need,
Though I like mine spicy—and barely sweet.

This poem was born from a writing prompt about taste during a creative writing class I took at Stanford in 2021. Growing up in Venezuela, peanut butter wasn’t something I knew—it simply didn’t exist in my childhood pantry. But when I moved to the U.S., it quickly became a small, unexpected obsession. Salty, sweet, strange… and somehow, a comfort. This poem is a little tribute to that discovery—and the way flavors carry memory, nostalgia, and new beginnings.

Copyright © 2025 Valentina DuPont. All rights reserved.