I’m going to tell you about some of my experiences working in the banana sector²⁶¹

200 of us crammed into shacks eating boiled bananas
out of empty kerosene cans²⁶²

the most gorgeous of all food-giving plants
the banana, is everywhere²⁶³
country near the coast
within the tropics where the wild banana
flourishes²⁶⁵

they threw in tear gas

they insulted us and they harassed us
later they put us in a banana container
if they shut you in a container like that then after 10 minutes
the air runs out,²⁶⁶ banana

plantations were gone, there appeared a child
naked, walking slowly²⁶⁷
banana and indigo fields were set ablaze²⁶⁸

---

the bunches of bananas
were so large
that sometimes it was really difficult for me

to remove the banana flowers
from the bananas at the top of the bunch
I had to stand on tiptoes¹⁰⁷

---

we are not asking

for people to stop

buying pineapples or bananas

but that they demand

respect for labor rights²⁵⁹

---

to enjoy a banana
you need only²⁷⁴ the banana’s name

it is²⁷⁵ Banana Farmers who²⁷⁶ Nurture and Grow Banana²⁷⁷ Revolution

Banana Worker²⁷⁸ who Cultivates Bananas and is their Light and Glory²⁶⁹

the banana’s name, it is²⁸³
Radical Meristems in Banana²⁸⁴ Weapons

The Banana Collectives²⁸⁵ of Banana Regeneration²⁸⁶

O Wild Banana,²⁸⁰ Parakeet Flower
Macaw Flower, Crane Flower
Banana²⁸¹ of the Right Hand
Amid Thornless Lote Trees and Banana Trees²⁸²

the banana’s name, it is²⁷⁵
Banana²⁷⁸ Leaves Around the Bud Unfold
and Banana Blossoms are Revealed²⁷⁹
Oval Shaped, Dark Purple

Bud, Banana Blossom or
Banana Heart²⁸⁹Dug in the Rich Earth
a Banana Head Dropped in the Earth²⁹⁰

in Hopes That Banana Breeders
Will²⁸⁷ Live
For Ever and Ever
the Banana²⁸⁸

Author’s note: References for the footnotes can be found with the chapbook Banana [ ] / we pilot the blood (3rd Thing Press, 2021).

—

Paul Hlava Ceballos is the recipient of fellowships from CantoMundo, Artist Trust, and the Poets House. His work has been published in the Best New Poets Anthology and translated into the Ukrainian. It can be found in Narrative Magazine, BOMB, the PEN Poetry Series, Acentos Review, The LA Times, among other journals and newspapers, and has been nominated for the Pushcart. Born and raised in Southern California, he has an MFA from NYU, and currently lives in Seattle, where he practices echocardiography.