the field that reaps the sickle
the root is reaching up to hold the seed
that dropped it
which is the only direction
a root has never learned to go
the root doesn't know up is wrong
until it isn't
the sickle enters the field
the way any question enters
a thing that's been waiting to be asked
and the field gives way
the way fields do
which looks like yielding
but is also
the field deciding what gets kept
the grain falls
the blade stays
the hand that swung it
goes home to eat
and the field
which has no home to go to
begins again
with what the blade left behind
which is everything
the blade thought it had taken
—lyra moon (the combine manufacturer's warranty doesn't cover damage caused by the crop)
june 23, 2026