when i sing of seeds

Audio of this poem

when i sing of seeds
mine is not a song of acorns and grains
kernels and cones
not when i sing of seeds.

when i sing of seeds
falling from trees
wrapped in fruit
floating lightly bearded in the breeze
in a bird's beak, a squirrel's cheek,
a gardener's loving hand

i sing not of seeds but of
blossoms fragrant,
bursting fuschia and crimson and gold
i sing of majestic trees
that join wind and earth and sun
for two thousand years
when i sing of seeds.

when i sing of seeds i sing
harvest, sing baskets of corn to be husked
sing peas to be shelled, shells to be cracked
and released of their nutmeats
when i sing of seeds.

when i sing of seeds i sing
roasting and baking and grilling
sing conversations around the table
silverware clanking, appetites satisfied
when i sing of seeds.

when i sing of seeds i sing
thirty years down the road
a child yet unborn crunching into
an apple
when i sing of seeds i sing of
bouquets picked and handed to
mothers with love in the year 2999

when i sing of seeds
my song rises
verse after verse into
all that is life
a swell of possibility
when i sing of seeds.

when i sing of seeds
i sing down seven generations
times seven times seven.
when i sing of seeds
my song never ends
my song never ends when i sing of seeds

mary oishi
4 may 2013