Apotheosis
Like Virginia Woolf filling her pockets
With stones to drown herself in the River
Ouse, this farmer filled his pockets with seed,
Figuring their desire to be sown
Would drown him in the field he’d just plowed.
And indeed as he started across it
He started to sink, first to his ankles,
Then to his knees, his waist, his chest, his neck.
But just as his mouth started filling up
With dirt, the seeds started germinating,
And the seedlings, seething up in green strength,
Took him under the arms and lifted him
Out of the ground, then kept going, holding
Him aloft like a victorious coach
Carried off the field by sobbing guards.