Puff balls of thistle down
Rise above the golden heads;
Both run with the north east breeze.
One floats high on summer’s air
Spreading destruction everywhere
Sucking up water and sun,
Clogging up combines, yellow and red
Smothering the fields, tangling the stems,
Feeding the birds of blue heaven.
The other formed into golden sheaves
Then ground, kneaded and baked,
Feeds all peoples of earth.
Animals both wild and tame
Crunch and are sustained
Stalks burned by fire.
Unlikely companions growing together,
Tug, crowd, compete, increase
In life giving tension
Growing together until the harvest
Like us.