Soiled         I am the dirt. I am soil for a seed. I was cut inside and out, flipped over, manipulated. I was left very weak; the littlest thing could have crushed me. Strange to think how the best soil is the kind most vulnerable to pressure. The seed that fell in my soil was the smallest seed there is. The first root this seed produced stabilized my loose soil so well that I knew it was true with assurance. Time passes as this seed grows into a mature plant. Many roots are grown; so many that my once fragile soil, which could’ve been trampled by the most minute weight, would become firm enough to support an unimaginable load. The part of me everyone notices isn’t me, the soil foundation. Instead it is the plant that has grown in me. There weren’t any rocks in me to brag about so I can’t claim that my strength is my own, it is purely the strength of the roots. Over time this tiny seed becomes a massive network of branches. It flourishes so well for the reason that I was once so vulnerable. If any other seed were planted I couldn’t have become so increasingly firm. The roots I depend on so much wouldn’t support as much weight if the seed were anything else.   This plant keeps growing bigger creating more seeds for more soil. Some seeds land on rocky soil where it can grow but the rocks won’t allow the roots to grow freely. That plant remains weak. Other seeds land in gravel. The seed may sprout but it will quickly smother and die. Other seeds find soil like mine but the soil isn’t free from vegetation. The tiny seed will have to compete with available soil to grow roots. These weren’t cultivated well enough. All the other plants and rocks are supposed to be removed if the one being planted is going to flourish. I wonder if all the best soils go through a process like mine. My weak vulnerable soil wasn’t produced by anything I did. I was made that way overtime by everything I went through. The seed was planted and free to mature since I had no rocks or plants to develop with. I became what I am not because of my choice alone, but because I accepted the seed when I had nothing else.   When it comes time for harvest, the farmer will look at how the plant will flourish and keep the processed soil. He will rip out the weeds, attempt to break and destroy the strong rocks and toss the gravel aside. When the farmer gets through removing the bad things, there will only be the best soil left. The soil that has already been refined well and had its flaws removed will be much more valuable to the farmer. But the soil that hasn’t will go through the hammer and sift so that only the good soil remains. The gravel and anything that doesn’t take the seed won’t be considered and will be tossed aside. © 2004 Kai Napohaku