Grass seeds
by Steve Quirt


Hay blows off the bed of the ranchers flatbed feed rig
Sings to the country road another country song
"Maybe it's about waiting oh so long?"

                He has fields up in Oregon that he can cut twice, or maybe three times
If he's lucky.

             He hauls it back home for his cows.

By five o'clock he's done feeding heading home over the day
Truck out on the road through ten thousand acres of dry pasture
Broken bale and spilt hay fly off the bed
Stock dog dancing back and forth in a tornado of swirled hay
Barking at the wind.

The tavern is down the road a bit, stacked with story and glory.
"They'll be lined and drinking like thirsty calves"
Better stop in and see if anybody needs some help.

The cows got fed.

Seeds of Oregon grass blow off the flatbed
Settling in a new land.
Offerings to the pasture
Seeds so ready to sprout that
the earth trembles a little.

By the time he reaches the Tavern, the seeds are settled in for eternity.

Little bundles of lifespan potential starseed possibilities blown from the wind again.

And are ready for the spring rain
   dry earth
   dry grass
   dying embers
   denying death.

At night, the seeds turn into stars
in the big galaxy above the rancher.
Spreading out over millennia salted and strewn across eternity
Blowing freely off the back of God's pick-up truck
To fertile fields of cosmic pasture planting His Grand Plan.

In the morning the Rancher woke early to check his cows.
Calving season was on him and he was a good tender of cattle
He was wondering if the cows liked the fresh
Batch of hay he brought in from Oregon.

           He got in his truck and the stock dog jumped up on the flat bed.
            He was covered with starseeds.
    "At least it's not damn ticks", the rancher muttered.
The dog was shedding star seeds.
They had a pure silver light about them, and   
        wherever they landed, they turned into bright stars.
               The rancher said something to himself then drove off shedding
bits of starseed off the truck bed
        while the dog ran back and forth back and forth
                                                                barking at eternity.