Root Vegetable - Dec 9 2021

 

Root Vegetable

Dec 9 2021

I stopped by the loaded bin.

Even though

potatoes weren't on the list

and I was in my usual rush.

But there was something compelling

about this basic root vegetable

compared to all the brightly coloured produce

and mouth-watering fruit

competing for attention.

Or set against the stacks

of processed packaged food

designed to catch the eye;

the needless abundance

that crowds the shelves

in uniform lines

up and down every aisle.

While a potato

is easily overlooked,

irregularly shaped

in its plain brown skin

with a trace of native soil

still clinging to its surface.

No two alike

all of different sizes.

And unapologetically flawed,

with darkened scars

and sprouting eyes

and random bumps and knobs.

Yet I felt oddly comforted

looking in to this dusty bin

of organic russets

sold in bulk.

I picked one up

and felt the pleasant roughness

of its unscrubbed skin.

Hefting it into the air

I noticed how solid it was,

a thing of substance

in and of itself.

Then held it to my nose

and breathed in its smell,

a subtle hint of iron

mixed with raw loamy earth.

So perhaps it's not surprising

that something so rooted and substantial

would leave me feeling grounded

and good.

And no need

for “new and improved”

when nature

has already made them perfect.

Potatoes, straight from the earth,

then into the oven just as they are;

comfort food

baked   . . .buttered  . . .served.

A homely tuber,

yet somehow beautiful

in its unassuming plainness.

Plain cooking, nothing fancy,

no airs, or aspirations

no conceit of greatness.

Who doesn't feel like a potato, most days?

Or hunger for one as well?