Question

Tomato Chutney
A. Gautam

Mother goes on an exploration
of our backyard garden
under the perennial sun
to seek the most tender
5 spheres of cherry tomatoes
arrows of green peppers
tear drops of garlic cloves
and umbrella of cilantro

She tends the soil
10 and brushes her fingers through the earth
her bamboo basket gathers
her love and labor

She sings an old ghazal1
that once was my lullaby
15 as her pickings go to sleep

She washes them
under the rain of the sink
before the heat of the frying pan
softens their flesh

20 She sings and sings to drown
the drone of the blender
red speckled with green

In her Texas kitchen
Mother pours tamatar2 chutney
25 from India

1 a rhyming poem, also a song popular in many South Asian countries
2 tomaton the first stanza, the poet uses figurative language of an exploration to emphasize that Mother is
Responses
A running against time to pick what she needs as it is hotrunning against time to pick what she needs as it is hot
B eager to finish her picking and begin preparing the chutneyeager to finish her picking and begin preparing the chutney
C determined to find just the right ingredients for the chutneydetermined to find just the right ingredients for the chutney
D nostalgic while looking for the perfect items needed

Answers

GPT-4o mini
The best response to the figurative language of exploration used in the first stanza of the poem is:

**C. determined to find just the right ingredients for the chutney.**

This response captures the sense of purpose and care that the mother exhibits while gathering the ingredients, suggesting that her exploration is not just a routine task but a meaningful endeavor to create something special.