A Hill of Beans

Abstract

A Hill of Beans Mary Quade (bio) The bean is the perfect lesson, capsule of seed coatenshrouding cotyledon, the embryonic epicotyl leaves,the radicle ready for reaching. In first grade,we lined glass jars with damp blotting paper and slipped beans between to spy what hides underground—the unfoldinggrowth to green. Entranced by experiment, I unsnappeda bean pod and realized each seed a plant with pods with beansinside, and saw—if not God's eternity—infinity. I sowed the seeds in soil along the drive, a place I played alone—myhead, a fertile world. My secret sprouts emerged, unfurledtheir lobes and leaves, then met the lawnmower blade. So Ilearned possibility is only hollow theory: a mean conclusion reaped. Each bean I swallow, I devour a garden—this Iamount to. You've taught me, beans; I will teach you about me. [End Page 47] Mary Quade mary quade is the author of Guide to Native Beasts, published by Cleveland State Poetry Center, and Local Extinctions, from Gold Wake Press. The recipient of an Oregon Literary Fellowship, and four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards, for both poetry and creative nonfiction, she lives in northeast Ohio and teaches at Hiram College. * Copyright © 2020 University of North Carolina Wilmington