Moonbathing, Issue 23, Fall/Winter 2020
hot roasted nuts
heaped into a paper cone –
all that burning anger
you hold onto
so tightly
Photograph by Monika Topolko
As an aside, I am realizing my age is showing. Do young people today even know about folks roasting chestnuts (or other nuts) and buying a brown paper cone full of piping hot nuts to eat on the street? I first came across this in Istanbul when I was young. The scent, heat, taste on a chilly autumn afternoon was one of those moments that has stayed with me all my life. Europeans had this custom, but does anyone still do this? The fragrance was so tempting.
A Poet in Time 
lovely tanka! yes, as Italian-Americans we still roast chestnuts in the oven around the holiday time; in fact i roasted some Italian chestnuts this x-mas .it’s still a big holiday tradition for us i think in NYC they still have chestnuts vendors (prob. not this yr with the virus)
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Ah, I’m so glad to hear this. Italians certainly have great traditions.
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They are still a standard sight in autumn and winter on Swiss streets. “Heissi Marroni” in Swiss German – a wonderful scent on a freezing cold day!
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Ah, I’m glad to hear that. I was in Paris one late winter week, but I didn’t see any and that surprised me.
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