Lettuce

ripened peaches
of yesterdays ago
drip sweet juicy tears
down the chin
while my blood
runs into yours
through filaments
we can't see only taste

who tends your food
we take copious notes
as if explanations
could heal our wounds
but the scent of each other
grows fainter by the hour

there are histories
beyond what is human
the language of another
thrives in the dirt
i pressed my fingers
into the dark and moist
then felt a knock back

1 My great-grand father was a farmer, but I am an amateur gardener, several generations from the land. I learn by asking questions, reading books, combing internet articles and discussion groups for bits of information, and by venture.
2 This food was grown locally, in my Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts apartment kitchen, 7 miles from the gallery.
3 My current knowledge of soil is thin, so plants were nurtured in a commercial medium, using organic fertilizer, and are otherwise chemical and pesticide free.
4 The variety of lettuce represented here is courtesy of natural diversity and selection, not genetic modification. These plants are heirlooms, hardy antique varieties, with colorful histories, which have withstood the test of time and varied growing conditions, but are now endangered.
5 Seeds were purchased from Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit organization of gardeners who are committed to collecting, conserving and sharing heirloom seed.
6 I grew these plants because I love to cook and to eat tasty, beautiful, healthy food-- for pleasure and sustenance, not for profit. Though I don't believe any of these motivations need be mutually exclusive.
7 Food tastes best when shared.

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