Sweet Onions
In Cobbtown, Hinesville, Vidalia
A galaxy of sweet tart globes
Burst from the tender undersides
Of the world.
In kaolin dust, beneath the ancient rivers
Veins of silica
Bring a hint of sweetness to the soil.
The miracle of commerce
To draw the salvific labor of wandering men
Uplifted by rumors of work.
Immigrants desperate to learn the pledge of allegiance
Western Union
And Jesus Saves
Up from Panama, Honduras, Mexico
Brown hands pulling twisting, sacking, lifting up
The dusty pearls.
The onion fields really a harvest of souls
Men bending, stooping, twisting, lifting up
The tongue’s faint pleasure--
Where the Piedmont was baptized and dunked beneath the sea.
Keith Melton holds a Master’s in City Planning from Georgia Tech and a BA in Economics and International Studies from the American University. His work has appeared in numerous publications including Amethyst, Compass Rose, The Galway Review, Kansas Quarterly, Confrontation, Mississippi Review, Grand Little Things, The Miscellany, Big City Lit, Cosmic Daffodil, Cape Rock Journal, Plum Tree Tavern, Poet’s Artists and Madmen, Siren’s Call, Deep Overstock, WayWords, Open Door, Pure Slush and others.
In Cobbtown, Hinesville, Vidalia
A galaxy of sweet tart globes
Burst from the tender undersides
Of the world.
In kaolin dust, beneath the ancient rivers
Veins of silica
Bring a hint of sweetness to the soil.
The miracle of commerce
To draw the salvific labor of wandering men
Uplifted by rumors of work.
Immigrants desperate to learn the pledge of allegiance
Western Union
And Jesus Saves
Up from Panama, Honduras, Mexico
Brown hands pulling twisting, sacking, lifting up
The dusty pearls.
The onion fields really a harvest of souls
Men bending, stooping, twisting, lifting up
The tongue’s faint pleasure--
Where the Piedmont was baptized and dunked beneath the sea.
Keith Melton holds a Master’s in City Planning from Georgia Tech and a BA in Economics and International Studies from the American University. His work has appeared in numerous publications including Amethyst, Compass Rose, The Galway Review, Kansas Quarterly, Confrontation, Mississippi Review, Grand Little Things, The Miscellany, Big City Lit, Cosmic Daffodil, Cape Rock Journal, Plum Tree Tavern, Poet’s Artists and Madmen, Siren’s Call, Deep Overstock, WayWords, Open Door, Pure Slush and others.
