Sharma, C. P. “Food.” PoemHunter.com. C.P. Sharma, 31 Jan. 2009. Web. 22 Mar. 2017. <https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/food-16/>.

I chose the poem “Food” by C.P. Sharma for my mentor text because of its simplistic and clear poetry pattern. Using a simple pattern of a single couplet per stanza, Sharma is able to express all different important aspects of food. From its natural production on planet Earth, to the way it fuels our bodies to allow us to thrive. The way Sharma describes food is not mundane or systematic, but instead is very fluid and gentle in nature. Her couplets each provide unique and exclusive aspects of the importance of food, of sustenance, and nature as a whole. She connects the way that the Earth produces food and the way that living beings consume it in a symmetrical fashion, showing us the natural connectivity between nature and living beings. Her purpose of the poem is to express a deep seeded appreciation not only for Earth and its plentiful gifts of food, but also to our own selves to be able to utilize these gifts in such an incredible fashion. She is able to get this message across most effectively through poetry because of her utilization of couplets as stanzas: while her points are individually quite simple, they are glorified and individualized with a separate stanza for each one.

This text serves as an excellent mentor text because of its simplistic and aesthetically pleasing form. With its simple rhyme scheme of AA, BB, CC, etc, Sharma provides us with many interlocking ideas combined in a fashion that anybody could attempt to copy. While other poems may be able to portray more complex messages through advanced rhyme schemes, the effectiveness of this poem as a mentor text comes from its ability to give beautiful and insightful points about nature and food in an easily followed fashion. Mentor texts are texts that define the genre well and yet are simple enough to look at as a base for learning and understanding the genre, which is exactly what I feel that Sharma has created with “Food”.