I was recently introduced
to garlic scapes
they’re the flower bud of the 
Hardneck Garlic plant
see it’s a lesser known part of the plant
that can be used the same way
as garlic in any recipe 

and then I said to myself,
in my kitchen
quietly
how fucking come nobody ever told me there was more to it
how did I live this long without
this essential survival knowledge
that will surely come in handy
when we have to forage for edible plants
on what’s left of the land that has gotten
Too Hot
for us to be out in for very long
well the ones who aren’t in the camps behind the fences
and not the others who we may never see again
the scape is a stem that they cut in June
to thicken the bulb of the plant
and it seems so fitting that 
giving a piece of yourself 
every single season 
is an acceptable part of your life cycle

how come
I never knew
there was more
To This
that we could have been using
more of what we already had
but we probably just threw it out thinking it was trash
and now we’re too far removed from the land 
from which we came to recognize
what it really is
something that we didn’t and don’t appreciate enough
something that we really don’t deserve
something that I am glad I now know

because I’m sitting by my crisper drawer,
in tears
realizing this stopped being about garlic scapes

a long time ago