Grow Food Eat

1.

The little boy squeals with delight at the sight
of the tiny green shoot from his seed.

A month later he picks off the caterpillar then
squeezes it oozing yellow/green blood.

2.

The young man who built the polytunnels
bathes in his own salty humidity, searches

frantically for airy fingers in the breeze
to cleanse the smooth green leaves.

3.

A wind beaten face eases the accelerator
of the smart yellow imported tractor,

flicks a switch, launches choreographed
plumes of unpronounceable liquid.

4.

In a country where the rains rarely fall
the farmer scratches at the earth, teases

tiny shoots from genetically modified stock,
bought annually from abroad.