Why I want to be a Farmer

1.
Because kale
when you dip it into a basin of cold water
and lift it out to shake dry,
sings,
scattering water like silver
into the quiet morning.

2.
Because I like the names of tomatoes:
Cherokee Purple. Black Prince.
Sungold.
Fox cherry. Brandy Rose. Orange Blossom.

3.
Sometimes
out in the fields at dawn
alone
the sun is rising in the east
the moon is setting in the west.

4.
If you listen closely,
onions will tell you how to weather storms
basil will teach you to write your name with scent
and pumpkins will whisper in your ear
the secret word for home.

5.
I want calluses
just below my thumbs
in the place where the hoe touches my skin.

6.
Once, harvesting beets,
a family of wild turkeys
watched me working as they walked across the meadow.

7.
Also the names of tools:
Hoe, harrow, rake, plough.
Spade, trowel, knife.

8.
Because of dirt and sky
and what grows
in the endless silence between them.

9.
And the names of herbs:
Tarragon, thyme, parsley, sage, cilantro.
Rosemary.

10.
If you could spend all day in a place full of rosemary,
wouldn’t you?

11.
It is as close as I have ever come to having a conversation with the earth.

12.
Because
on a cold blue afternoon
at the end of September
the sunlight on the piles of winter squash
curing in the field –
butternut, Hubbard, acorn, delicata –
is as much beauty
as I can ask for
in one lifetime.