Not Round-Up Ready

In honor of the global march against Monsanto, I'm sharing this poem (intended more as spoken word), which will be featured in my new collection, Journey Through the Hinterland, which will be published in the next few weeks.

Not Round-Up Ready

I am not Round-Up Ready
my genetic code
doesn't want to be hacked or cracked
sliced or diced
the strings and strands
of protein make up
the secrets and the mystery
of aeons, the shaping
evolutionary forces
pressures upon my ancestors
and there's more in me
than you seem to comprehend
as you break down the particles,
mixing in the articles
from invading species
in blindness you blend
and forget that I am an organism
breathing and living
and collaborating with a diverse
network of beings that share
in my body, my skin
the air and this earth
keep those chemicals
off my food, get off my land
this soil is more
than you can understand
don't sterilize and laboratize
this is my body, I have a choice
this is our earth, we have a voice


c. 2013 Raven J. Demers