Marketing the Bean

Last time my wife and I strolled through Whole Foods Market
we spent nearly a hundred bucks on "entertainment"

positioned past the organic kale and broccoli aisle,
plexiglass cubes, sexily lit rows, how could anyone resist

lovely legumes: mung, navy, adzuki
stacked strategically with rice to complete a protein

jasmine, basmati, brown, black, long grain
short grain, bhutanese red, golden rose, sushi

brilliant product placement
the art of peddling rice & beans

which at the end of the day, were the same old beans

my auntie used to throw on the stove with a lump of fat-back
fill our stubby bellies with a bowl full of sticky white rice

oh the thrill of waiting, like Christmas, to cash checks the first or the fifteenth
& splurge on the (now) sacrilegious sweet thick of ruby red t-bone steaks.