‘A PAUPER’S DISCOURSE ON A BUSH’

With a spoon made from the Tree of Night I scraped
Stew from the curved bottom of the pot
The handful is not filling
And I sing to the morning
Make music for the nettle
Which has a blossom
Shaped like a stalk of grain
Or a cluster of grapes
Whose leaves are covered
With poisonous hairs
Good fodder for animals
And greenery for poultry
And in the nettle’s place a myrtle
Which is “a branch of a thick tree”
Whose flowers are yellowish white
And whose evergreen leaves are fragrant
Go partake and eat
Without payment without charge
As Isaiah called out in the market
O all who thirst
Stand in line and be sated.

A PAUPER’S DISCOURSE ON A BUSH