Olive Tree Oil Extraction: A Day In My Life Poem by Mohammad Yousef

By Mohammad A.Yousef

Morning yawns, stretching bright,
Soft dawn light spills through leaves,
Whispers of life unravel in knots of branches,
A canvas of green, a promise of gold.

I lace my boots, gripping the earth,
Each step carries the smell of a thousand olives,
Nestled deep within crushed flesh,
Ready to yield their treasures,
As I clutch a steel basket,
A weight of history tipping at my side.

With gentle hands, I harvest,
Fingers plucking, a rhythmic dance,
Each olive a story, a heartbeat,
A round sphere, soft and inviting,
Dark as despair, green as hope,
I fill my basket, growing heavy with purpose.

The sun glows higher, piercing the sky,
Shadows sway in the trees, the wind whistles,
Reminding me that every olive matters,
Each pit holds the laughter of generations,
Service of the earth;
Under layers of bark,
A legacy waiting to flow.

At noon, we gather, a small crew of sun-kissed souls,
Laughter echoes like the buzz of bees,
We share midday bread, crusty and warm,
Dripped in yesterday's harvest,
Our hands glisten with sticky residue,
Simple joys binding us, like each olive on the tree.

Afternoon swells with urgency;
Machines hum, chugging along,
Mighty presses squeezing every drop,
The liquid gold cascades down the path,
Bringing love, warmth, and flavor,
In the heart of this ancient process.

As the sun tilts towards goodbye,
I watch the oil dance in its glass jar,
A shimmering warmth of sun-kissed days,
Into the sunset of thought and breathe,
From root to sky, from olive to bottle,
It carries whispers of where it's been,
And the journey ahead.

Finally, I stand alone,
The grove quiet, the sky deepening—
Tonight, the stars will join my harvest,
A gentle reminder of the cycles
That bind lives to the soil, to each other,
And I smile, knowing tomorrow's dawn,
Will bring another dance beneath the olive trees.