Across Bangladesh the rice seedlings are now transplanted into the paddy fields to provide food to a growing nation for the coming year. I wish them all the best.

Rice seedlings

.

Rice seedlings freed

by nimble fingers,

from overcrowded seedbeds,

pale in transplant shock,

bruised, bare roots

set tenderly in dampened soil.

See troops in endless lines,

below; absorbing, seeking, griping,

above; soak green from morning light.

Stand tall; straighten, strengthen.

Water, nourishment and sun,

all this is yours  –  get ready,

grow.