carrots

i’m watching

the lost shoppers

push their carts

through the

produce aisle

looking for something

they 

once upon a time

knew

was alive

 

when the

cold air

of

harvest time

crept up their sleeves

and the moist dirt

on the bottoms

of

their

shoes

 

reminded them

that they too

were once

alive

and maybe

i was too

Reviews

[DIVYA]

Strolling through the supermarket with the trolley, people do have such dead expressions on their faces. Perhaps, they're tired after a day's work or just thinking of more interesting things outside of the mundane. Sadly, living in the moment is forgotten and they become no better than the carrots they are buying for dinner. I think, living and not just existing is the true harvest. We honor the sower and the reaper both, that way.

Your poems are a treasure trove, I keep returning to for a dash of insight. This one was one such great moment of thought. Thank you for sharing.

[Eilis]

This made me think of the debates I’ve had with my kids or younger siblings (years ago) about what is actually safe (ethically speaking) to eat. If people avoid animal foods because of the ethical implications then how do we justify the slaughter of plants. These debates are, of course, meant mostly as jokes, but I do think sometimes that we can exclude pretty much anything from being safe or acceptable if we dissect the idea too much. I have learned about the distress signals of plant life and even how they can share their own energy with family members to promote health and sustain life of those they presumably wish to protect. As near to love as many animal behaviors. Your poem makes me think of all the choices we make. Sometimes arbitrary, sometimes through a wish to conform and sometimes through a thought structure maybe we don’t even understand. We are, in the end, all walking dead. In a relative sense. So maybe it all begins there. Your poems do make me think. I like that.

[SkinlessFrank]

Thanks for your reflections on this. Kin selection in the plant world is something our animal minds, so fixated on what we call "behaviour", is an idea that is difficult to get our minds around, but I agree that it is there in the wild. I like it that this poem led to you to reflect on how we have come so far from Nature that we often see plants as foreign. Your vision extends deeply into these mysteries.

[. serah .]

-- an amazingly poignant heart-song... -- the vulnerability in your writing voice captures the vulnerability of the universe... and how it might be feeling about all the 'unnatural' things being inflicted on it... (not just fertilizers but all else as well)... -- one of the reasons why i went into near-complete isolation (for many years) was the fact that i found the world unbearably fake, false and 'dead'...

[...]

Hello SF. I absolutely love what you've said here. Think I'll keep this one :)

[SkinlessFrank]

Thanks Lynn. I hate going to the grocery to shop....still eating from my garden, albeit from frozen/preserved veggies.

[...]

Smart man :) I do the same as much s possible

[kmartell]

I can relate to this poem, after awhile, seeing something like my own thoughts here. I kept rereading.

[Beccy]

If we continue so frantically apace to be afraid of the dirt under our nails only bacteria will be left in the end.

Beccy.

[Chloe]

I like the fact that this was written in Comic Sans. Excellent piece.

[emmajoy]

This is special.. original, thoughtful, should have readers nodding their heads or sitting back to weigh up your words. I like this, has flair, elegance and - reaches out.

[A. H. Pinley]

Dare too live.... Nice write!

[Mockingbird]

it's time to start shelling bucks for organic food at the farmer's market...everything is so processed today we're poisoning ourselves rather than being nutritional. excellent comment on today's society.