I am starting this blog to tell a story. The story behind my poem "Voodoo Chicken," which won the 2006 Poetry Daily-Virginia Arts of the Book Companion Poems Contest. I have been asked many times about who inspired it, and I've refused to give details publicly. Of course, the man who inspired this poem knows it exists, and a few of my close friends know this story. I have decided to tell it publicly because I suspect there are tons more "voodoo chicken" stories out there, and I want to hear them all.
So, what is a "Voodoo Chicken," you might ask? The term itself in my life comes from a man in Georgia who entered a men's charity bake-off with a dish called "voodoo chicken." He kept asking me to try it each time I walked by his table. It looked very amorphous, no real definition, was sorta funny-colored and soupy. I didn't want to try it. Finally, after I'd walked by his table about five times, I decided to taste the dish. He served some on a small plate, and I slowly lifted it into my mouth. It was fire hot! ... but I couldn't get enough of it. I used the remaining charity tickets that I had to buy more voodoo chicken.
