Growing seeds in trays

Did you have dreams in the sod where you lay,
Of resting in your mother’s pod each day,
Before sleeping through winter’s chill?
And now alone, snug under frost’s still
With wriggling worms for company at dawn,
You wait for the first kiss of moisture drawn
That wakes metabolism in the warming bed,
And bursts your coat with a white rootlet spread
Bristling with hairs, burrowing deep down,
Sucking the goodness around, a crown
Of yellow cotyledons and a shoot
Breaking out, whose spear tip knows its route
Pushing grains aside until breaking free,
To bask in the sun’s rays, oh, such glee
And digging dimples in the seedman’s face,
Your day unfolds with gentle grace.

Most times when I look at a tree, it’s only a tree, but occasionally I see a living being lifting its arms like a shaman in a trance.

Most times when I look at a dog, it’s only a dog, but sometimes I see in its face a dear relative gazing back with a loving smile.

But a seed in my palm is always a seed that never loses its seediness. It reaches back to the first cell, forward to my embryo, and to the uttermost speck of life on the planet in the future.

THE NEWSLETTER, ON SUBSTACK

Enjoyed this essay?

Join me on Fertile Ground: occasional essays on nature, science and medicine, sent to your inbox.

More to read

Cherry blossom time

Cherry blossom time

Our Weeping Cherry tree started to bloom on March 28, an old lady now yet still graceful. She has a voluminous floral dress spread wide from her ‘hips’ by branches like the hoops and side panniers of a woman in

Read essay →
Beauty of the Night Sky

Beauty of the Night Sky

Lord Byron’s first meeting with Lady Wilmot Horton at a fashionable party inspired him to compose the poem: She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies Of all that’s best of dark and bright  Meet

Read essay →
Feast of the Animals

Feast of the Animals

The Feast is held today, October 4. I don’t mean a feast of animals like a medieval banquet crammed with meaty dishes, but an ecclesiastical “feast” offered for animals, for blessing them and wishing them health and longevity. It commemorates

Read essay →
Scroll to Top