Celery Heart
By
John I. Blair
I tried to write a patriotic piece on celery,
On stalwart labor
And great American dreams;
But memories of migrant camps
And day-by-day subsistence pay
Got in the way.
Then I yearned to do a ballad
About the wide Salinas Valley,
The rich black earth, the mountain water,
Burning sun;
But pollution and a veil of pesticide
Spoiled my tale.
Finally I wandered down the lyric path,
Singing a seamless song of celery,
The emerald green geometry of stems and strings,
The graceful fall of leaves;
But before I had my poem done,
I ate it all.
©2004 John I. Blair
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