Seedless

Does it worry you that no one wonders where seedless oranges come from?

I find it worrisome.

People wonder why there's so much traffic, who will win a football game or where the remote control is, but no one, as far as I can see, wonders where seedless oranges come from.

It seems to be somewhat of an overlooked miracle to me.

Or underlooked, I should say, since no one seems to look at miracles anymore.

They are all already here. What's the big deal?

The big deal, Bub, is this: when a chicken comes out of an egg, I am surprised.

Chickens look nothing like eggs, nor eggs chickens.

Lots of other things come out of eggs, too.

Lots of things that don't look like eggs and don't look much like chickens either.

But no one looks.

They are watching a football game.

They are chewing without feeling, swallowing without tasting and I am screaming now but no one can hear me.

The damn TV's on too loud.

Meat pies and beer, that's what it comes down to.

I am stuck in a parallel universe where no one can see me and I pound on the soundproof glass, wave my arms and scream, "Don't you see the problem?! If there are no seeds in the oranges, how do we get any more of them?

"One-seeded oranges I could understand, but oranges with no seeds? It's inconceivable!

"It's like having a baby by yourself! That's what it is - it's an immaculate conception!

"It's like a million immaculate conceptions!

"It's as strange as a chicken shrinking and going back into an eggshell!-which, by the way, is just as strange as a chicken pecking its way out of an eggshell and growing.

"Can anybody hear me?!"

- by Mitchell Joe, reproduced with author's permission.