Union Poem by Jane Brunton

The man ploughs his field and sows his abundant seed into the furrow’s depth

From this union of man and earth are born their edible children

The man gives the mother nothing but dung and water
Somehow she survives and rouses her exhausted womb again and again to bring forth fruit

She feeds at times on the rotting bodies of her progeny and is satisfied

She waits

The man is old and stooped now. Soon he will die. There will be other men to plant their seed in her warm belly but all will become hers in time.

Totally and forever.

Near Alausi, Ecuador 1998