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Green

by C.N. Bean

   

The summer Dad found work in Ohio
we lived on a farm in West Virginia
and more than once talked of running away
as we hoed weeds in a huge field of corn

that would never see its way to our plates
because it belonged to our farm’s landlord
though we were allowed to eat fruit from trees
peach, pear and cherry surrounding the house.

In off hours we went to the grape vines
that grew on three trusses down the long hill.
While we picked purple grapes coated with dust
that our teeth helped clean with the inside juice

we spat out the small hard seeds and limp shells
and weighed our flight options against the risks
only to see little chance of escape
from a world baked dry by summer sun.

Renny, our German shepherd, sat in shade
under the vines and chomped on green grapes
in no hurry to go anywhere soon
oblivous to the taste of sour.

We didn’t make it out and grapes stayed green
above Renny’s head in the cool, dark shade
that I reached into one day to sample
what turned out to be a seedless, sweet green.

 

 

In addition to having published several novels, including A SOUL TO TAKE, C.N. Bean has published short stories, poetry and screenplays. His feature-film screenplay, SANTO DE CRISTOS, was a recent semifinalist in the prestigious Blue Cat Screenplay Competition. His screenplay, THE BEGINNING OF THE END, received an honorable mention at the 2009 Canada International Film Festival. He serves on the English faculty of Virginia Tech.

 

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