Louise Annarino, garden photo 2021
HAIKU
Inert seed unearthed,
breathing air unfiltered now
by soil, can’t grow.
Oklahoma Conservation Commission Soil Scientist by U.S. Department of Agriculture is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0
LESSONS LEARNED
You have to eat a pint of dirt before you die.
Eating dirt creates immunity.
Now, tell me why
we disinfect what is written or aired.
Tell me why we only care
for news that entertains
yet fails to create community.
Do we deliberately divide the seed
until nothing worth digesting can grow
in gardens allowed to stay fallow
to feed the greed of those who make money
on fields laid to waste covered in words
sweeter than honey?
The last few minutes of every news show
tells a story to touch the heart.
To make certain we continue to believe
the world is better than we think,
despite what was said only moments before.
Can we not take facts straight any more?
Do we need others to tell us what
we are seeing; then tell us not to believe the sight?
Because, everything will simply be alright.
Dirty though the world may be
it is our right to make it what we will
by planting our own seeds
in the fields of our own minds
where it can then grow solid and whole.
The worms move the truth through dirt
enabled by microscopic insects
up the roots and into stems
until blossoms see the light of day.
Just, give us the dirt, and be on your way.
annarino writes 