Garlic Lover
by Peter Bankson
Garlic – my guide, my muse, my love . . .
It’s cold in the refrigerator where the garlic lives,
and dark.
The bulb that I’ve kept stored there since September
has been in isolation,
wrapped oh so carefully
in that immaculate white robe it made
to keep it clean while growing out of sight last summer.
A bulb of garlic is a thing of beauty,
and that’s before we’re open
to the taste hidden deep within.
My garlic grew into maturity buried in a garden,
covered itself in paper,
survived the harvest,
and entered into icy silence in my kitchen.
Then yesterday, with snow still lurking in the shadows,
I brought it to the light,
expecting it to give a clove or three,
help the potluck beans with some flavor for the feast.
But every clove was showing green,
fresh sprouts pushing out into the cold,
swelling from that aromatic flesh.
How could it know that spring was on the way,
that there will be another season fit for growth,
and why can’t I?
I’ve suffered through the winter dark
with no faith that my malaise would ever end.
Some deeply hidden failure,
some shadowy anxiety, was robbing me of life and hope,
or so I feared.
The garlic knew better.
It chose to wait,
wrapped in acid-free, organic tissue
‘til the moon turned new
and light began to come again despite the snow.
How does the garlic know
to celebrate that first new moon and spring to life,
committing all her succulence to sprout and root,
to flower and seed, before she builds another bulb next fall?
Is there a memory in garlic I’ve abandoned in myself?
Is every bulb somehow linked to Garlic Central,
waiting for the word?
A cook told me that garlic sprouts are bitter,
that I should cut them out before I used the bulb.
I left them in.
They give the potluck beans
a special kind of savor.
I can risk a season in the frigid dark,
with faith that even in the isolation,
God will tell me when it’s time to sprout.
Peter Bankson has been an active Steward of Seekers Church for a long time, where he helps support the worship life of the community and keep the building in working order. While his work over the years has focused on serving non-profit organizations, part of his being has lived in artistic expression: crochet, photography, poetry, and prayer.
