Hop Gardens

In the Hop Garden



They walk
between the bines
stretching up, green, leafy
high into the sky
tendrils brushing against their skin
leaving raw, red wheals
raised on their arms

The hop petals are soft
green, powdery with pollen
The smell surrounds them
intoxicating

They draw closer together
as dusk settles
drunk on the perfume of hops

Night falls
as they lie
in the grass
at the edge of the field
between the forest of hop bines
and the high protective hedge




Hop Training

Clouds move across the sky
earth clods underfoot
strings stretching up
from ground hooks
to sky hooks

Hops straggle out
snakelike
from their plants

Each hop plant
must be lifted
put on a string
clockwise
or it breaks

As she moves
from plant to plant
lifting, twisting

She begins to feel
the plants growing
around her
quietly

Day after day
she moves
along the lines of plants
between the earth
and the sky