Birds zig zag
black earth
no one for third picking tomatoes
birds eat them
horses graze peacefully
November sun
grapes cut
stillness on vines
homeless sleep between rows
some places grapes grow no more
new homes for escaping urbane
where will fruit grow?
Chile Mexico Peru?
Fire burns pile of aging roots
smoke ascends
signaling death
giving life to next crop.
--Marvin X
from Land of My Daughters, poems, Marvin X,
Black Bird Press, 2002.