He washed that cucumber as lovingly as a mother would wash a new born baby.
The bucket was old, how old I can’t even guess.
It was a well bucket that had a ring forged into the handle.
And the water was reverently used so as not to spill a single drop.
In an instant I observed a lifetime.
A farmer who had to go to work for the post office to support his family of 14.
A postmaster who had to farm to keep his children from going hungry.
A life of dreams and aspirations never realized.
Yet resentments never materialized.
In the caressing of a cucumber.
—
Tomas Urrea is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico where he has not yet lived his entire life. He is an
educator/farmer/beekeeper. He is married to Valerie, and has two beautiful daughters. Tomas can usually be found in his backyard studio writing and sampling his homemade mead.
200 New Mexico Poems 