Jars

jars,

seven-hundred and
sixty-eight of them,

quart-size,

regular mouth,

about six-hundred and
forty dollars worth total,

eighty-three cents per jar
give or take,

why are they waiting
by the register?

not really sure,

maybe somebody is going
to a Greg Brown concert
and will hand out jars
with stewed tomatoes
or sliced peaches
preserved under a
gel seal and an
air-tightened lid
as a token of
appreciation via
the price of
admission,

but it was
more than
unexpected
when a short man
probably from in
or around
Rio Grande country
bought the jars
for a rather
massive operation,

one that involves
hives and things
that go sting
when a smoke source
is not nearby,

and in this moment,
one appreciates merit-
based discrimination
over racial profiling,

a second man of inadequate
intelligence and talent failed
to finish the loading of the jars
into the first man's pick-up bed,

thereby failing to serve
the customer thoroughly,

so the poet in question
loaded the remaining
twenty-nine cases with the
assistance of a pallet jack
and two other men of the
some extraction as the
first man,

if anything this poet learned
firsthand this day,

it's that skin color should never
inform one's opinion about any
human being's individual worth,

and these three men lived and died
by the bees,

and they had constitutions as sweet
and kind as the product that would
be packaged soon enough in the jars,

sweet and golden that is,

and if anything else can be gained
from this is that the work ethic is
a human trait,

not just an American one,

who would have thought ruminating
about quart-size jars would be so poetically
symbolic and thought-provoking?

Reviews

[SkinlessFrank]

there's gold in those jars...what a rich write

[Kenneth The Poet]

Thanks, Frank.

[Antonio Valentino]

born one of those guys from in or around, the rio grande country, i can relate with this fully.. my mother and her family grew up as farm workers traveling around the state of Cali following the next fruit or vegetable harvest living on very eager means but never knowing hunger or want for anything because like your dear matriarch, my grandmother fed and clothed them with plate fulls and fabrics of unconditional love, as my own mother did when my dad died years later leaving my mom to raise six children on her own. That was in 1964, a proud hispanic woman buying her first house and doing things like putting us all in little league and watching all three games in a row of me and my older brothers, yelling the loudest, that is if she wasnt working the snack bar... well anywho.. i really enjoyed your poem my fine sir but most importantly your compassionate heart for humaity in all its sounds and flavors.. maybe their is still hope for that promised land a great man once talked about many years ago until he was silenced for ever, with folks like you, who see people as we should.. for who they are and not simply, how they look or talk.. bless you friend.. :)

[Kenneth The Poet]

Thank you so much. I am glad for that.

[Antonio Valentino]

of course, it was my pleasure.. :)

[Debbie_Philly]

This is VERY thought provoking and deep... to have such an in depth insight that grew from jars just inspiring.... I really enjoyed this !! :)

[Kenneth The Poet]

Thank you so much, Debbie.

[An owl on the moon]

You truly took what to so many would have been an ordinary day... one with little to mention... and you did the poets' proud.. awakening in that day something deeper... a profound glimpse into the heart and soul of humanity... of what is of value to life and living. Amazing.

[Kenneth The Poet]

Thanks a bunch, Craig. So very true.

[Alexandria Reece]

Excellent! This speaks to the heart and is food for the mind.

My favourite lines:

'one that involves
hives and things
that go sting
when a smoke source
is not nearby,'

Things that go sting! I giggled with joy! :D

[Kenneth The Poet]

I agree, I don't know where I was going with this one at first. Thank you for the review. Much appreciated.

[Alexandria Reece]

Any time and well-deserved!

[MOON]

Beautiful deep write is it not strange how we judge others by skin colour , you think by now we wold see the essence of a human being.

[Kenneth The Poet]

Thanks so much, Moon!

[sienikeha]

refreshing!

[Kenneth The Poet]

Thank you, sienikeha.

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

I love how deeply you think Ken......I do the same thing. Excellent writing.

[Kenneth The Poet]

Thank you, Neva.

[Leslie Philibert]

I like this a lot, a considered poem with depth, a poem that widens an observation into universal, very noble, thoughts. Good write.

[Kenneth The Poet]

thank you so much, leslie.

[Tree]

Kenneth stumbled into your arena and am happy I did so. A deep
and thoughtful poem that cuts right into one of the most fundamental
questions of our time, what it means to be human. To be connected.
And how easy it can be for a preconceived notion to filter out something,
beautiful.

[Kenneth The Poet]

Thanks, Diego. I appreciate it greatly.