UNCAsheville Mel Blowers Gallery
January 15 through January 31, 2001
beet
the beet is the most intense of
vegetables
the radish admittedly is more feverish
but the fire of the radish is a cold fire
the fire of discontent not of passion
tomatoes are lusty enough
yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of
frivolity
beets are deadly serious
the beet is a melancholy vegetable
the one most willing to suffer
you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip . . .
the beet is the murderer returned to the scene of the crime
the beet is what happens when the cherry finishes with the carrot
the beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon
bearded buried all but fossilized
the dark green sails of the grounder moon-boat
stitched with the veins of primordial plasma
the kite string that once connected the moon to the earth
now a muddy whisker drilling desperately for rubies
