Xiaoman

(Lesser fullness)

To pick or pluck (Photo: Faye Sarras)

Not yet ripe to pick or pluck
Hanging, waving, springing
Catching, spinning, singing
In all endeavor‘s fields
There awaiting nature‘s yields
From within the heart
Sprouts thoughtful feeling
Standing up instead of kneeling

T.P. Wilkinson, Dr. rer. pol. writes, teaches History and English, directs theatre and coaches cricket between the cradles of Heine and Saramago. He is author of Unbecoming American: A War Memoir and also Church Clothes, Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid in South Africa. Read other articles by T.P..