Hunger for a More Fruitful World

 by Bacopa Literary Review 2021 Poetry contributor Frederick Livingston

Over the course of several weeks in late winter, I noticed the apples, plums and pears come alive in my new home on the Northern California coast. I struggled to understand the phenomenon at first. It didn't feel like spring yet and I was concerned that an unexpected frost might shatter this frail unfurling. Slowly, I noticed other plants revealing flowers, until eventually the landscape was covered in color. Suddenly spring felt definitive.

I wondered what would have happened if the fruit trees, with their long sense of time and deep roots, never took the first steps from winter to spring. Would the other flowers find that courage themselves or would they stay waiting for a more fruitful earth? It struck me how flowers, not leaves, were the first to emerge from buds, proving dreams precede the means.

Maybe there is a signal the trees feel that I do not, but I could not avoid the parallels between the bravery of this beauty and the question of how societal change occurs in an environment of cold uncertainty. Studying ecology and peacebuilding has shown me many paths to despair, but witnessing this unguarded faith in the future gave me a powerful example of how hope shapes our world.

            Pear Blossom
       Mendocino, California

this tree could be dead
or dreaming
...
what would the Earth look like
if all of us had such courage
to offer our most tender selves
not only when spring is certain
but when we can no longer bear
our hunger for a more fruitful world?

*     *    *

Frederick Livingston plants seeds in the liminal space between food justice, ecology, and peace. His work has appeared in literary magazines, academic journals, public parks, and bathroom stalls. Compelled by the power of metaphor to shape our world, he hopes to share in telling new stories.