“Mustard Seed,” by Shannon Winston (Poetry ’18)

2018 poetry alum Shannon Winston was recently featured in The Shore. Read an excerpt of “Mustard Seed” below:

Mustard Seed

A girl glues a mustard seed to white draft paper.
She steps back to admire her work. This is my origin story,
she announces to her art teacher who will never understand her.
Later, she adds blue-eyed grasses and black hawthorn.

She steps back to admire her work. This is my origin story.
Chatter about the timid, rootless girl fills the halls.
Later, she adds: Blue-eyed grasses + black hawthorn
= my body. In my gut, that’s where alfalfa sprawls.

Read this poem in its entirety here: https://www.theshorepoetry.org/shannon-k-winston-mustard-seed