Potatoes

(Inspired by Natalie Goldberg again, only potatoes, instead of mashed potatoes)

Potatoes no longer come in a bag.
They're no longer
brown, gold, and red.
They come out of the ground,
beautifully round,
brown, gold, red, blue, purple, white.
You name it,
they're there.

Potatoes sprout from the eyes
which explore the dark realms
of soil, creating new spuds
that grow bigger with time.

The key is to plant them
one to two inches deep,
one to two feet apart,
and to shovel hills of soil
over the budding leaves.

We rarely mash our potatoes
Why, when the flavor
straight from the ground
is so fresh?
We do dab them with butter,
black pepper, sometimes some
pesto, sometimes some salt.

Twenty-five pounds of seed potato
will yield about 250 to 300 fresh tubers.
They store well in a cool, dry, dark place,
where the eyes over time
will explore the darkness of the cellar
and create new sprouts.