Popcorn

One seed
One lonely seed
In one lonely hole
One finger's length deep

One sprout
One lonely sprout
Green as a new promise
One finger's length tall

One plant
One solitary plant
Spreading leafy sun receptors
Knee high on this fourth of July

One ear
On the one plant
Ready to harvest
Ready to store away

Tucked somewhere dark and dry
Hardening in the circulating heat
Almost downright decorative
But meant for something to eat

Now put in a machine
Kernels stripped off clean
Hard little pebbles of golden corn
Funneled into a sack

Taken into the house
Where a movie is showing
The "Cannonball Run"
For the hundredth time

Into a pot on the stove
Stirred constantly
In a bath of butter
The heat building to a head

One golden butter wet kernel
Jumps lightly into the air
Unseen inside the hot stirring pot
Bursting from the inside
To ten times it's former size
White and fluffy
Waiting only for it's mates to do the same
And some sprinkled salt

Purpose fulfilled

Popcorn