First, you have to pick the crop
bending your backUntil it aches,
a mess of string beans
Under a hot sun
bean picking fun
Will make an awful sweat
break out
If you finish a row
and you don't need to hoe
You might take a break
before you too snap
Like the beans
in your lap
On a newspaper sheet
after they're cleaned
Leaving only the smell
of sweet earth.
I start on one end
with knife
And pull the string
to the other
Others snap the
end and pull
One side
or the other
Though I think that
a wasteful and dull way.
No longer a string bean
just green
Break it in the gap
between the beans
It should
make a loud snap
Not a quiet
crack and bend.
Then throw your snapped
beans in the tub between
The other bean snappers
breaking down a mess.