Poem: 'Strawberry and Donut' — With an Illustration by Gabriele Artusio

Ines (Canottiere II) by Gabriele Artusio | 2023, china ink, watercolor and pencil on paper

There’s strawberry and donut,

Somewhere in the fridge.

It’ll only take a minute,

Before you have to leave.

That soft cloud-like dough,

Round and round it goes.

Flour-dusted fingers,

Stuck with glue, all together.

Deep in gold bubbly oil

Comes a crisp, gurgling sound.

As its skin slowly hardens,

Streams of custard start to fillin’.

It entices, such sugary foretaste, 

Teasing out and up, coming senses,

But without a pungent aftertaste,

Lack a note for full completeness.

Ripen red freckled with stars,

Curvy top with round rosy tip,

How it oozes with velvety juice,

and leaves such sweet acidic finish.

Strawberry and donut,

Tightly tucked in a small corner of the fridge,

Both laid bare, waiting for the feast,

Taking only but a minute.

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About the Poet

N.T. Anh is a Vietnamese-born and raised writer. When the pandemic began to abate, Anh made a decision to leave home and her job in Vietnam to learn literature and the art of writing. In earning a Master of English Literature at the University of Glasgow, Anh has experimented with many different writing styles and genres to develop a voice that can capture the humor, poignancy, and nature of everyday life. She has recently graduated and is now working as an English and Japanese lecturer. By night, she still continues to write and dive into the fictional world of her own. Follow N.T. Anh on Instagram.

About the Artist

Gabriele Artusio’s art focuses around Ines, a lens through which they can observe and explore different themes and styles while keeping a fil rouge. Their art features an ever-increasing number of papers filled by many repetitions using the same character with new stories. View more of Gabriele Artusio’s work at their website and follow them on Instagram.