SPRING HARVEST OF SNOW PEAS

They’re taller than me.
I taste and eat as I pick along,
choose the flat big ones and baby ones,
and leave the bulging pods for shelling or seed.
The purple and lavender blossoms
and the blue blossoms wave above me
and touch my neck.
I stand on the ledge of the box, reach for more,
and remember my mother and father growing snow peas every season.
When she could hardly see anymore, my mother showed me
by feel how to plant 3 seeds per mound.
Every day, enough for dinner, and for leaving at neighbors’ doors.
The birds surround me and eat and sing. I am unequivocally happy

-Maxine Hong Kingston

Berklee’s poetry Walk was laid in October 2003 along Edison Street between Shattuck and Milvia Streets. The route includes 128 metal plates with excerpts from songs, each of which is related in one way or another to the city of Berkeley.

The current sign features a passage written by the American writer of Chinese origin Maxine Hong Kingston (1940) who taught at the University of Berkeley. Kingston wrote primarily about the experiences of Chinese-born people living in the United States.