“Marshall” (Excerpt)

By George Macbeth

1 It occurred to Marshall
2 That if he were a vegetable, he’d
3 be a bean. Not
4 one of your thin, stringy
5 green beans, or your

6 dry, marbly
7 Burlotti beans. No, he’d be a broad bean,
8 a rich, nutritious,
9 meaningful bean,

10 alert to advantages
11inquisitive with potatoes,
12 mixing with every kind
13 and condition of vegetable,
14 and a good friend