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Sunflower seeds are a versatile tool. A prop for socialising and a facilitator of tactile silences. Mouth-full of grazings, we don’t need quality conversation. Your interlocutor is cracking the same seed. But the parlance is different.
Some, carefully hold the cased seed between their front teeth, usually by the width. Then crack it gently.
Some use index and thumb, playing a dangerous game of crushing the seed.
Some use molars. Work through them, with tongue and teeth. The dexterous mouths always tuck in the seed. Never the cusk.
Some methodical grazers take it one by one.
Some do three at a time, to perfection. A party trick.
Some are known to chew through a mouth-full — a less refined job.
And some, try to talk with their mouths full!
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There is an elderly woman on my road. On my runs, I sometimes see her in the local park, watching the weather, dogs, birds, people. Always the same bench. In the company of sunflower seeds and birds, her interlocutor invisible.
Today, she wasn’t there. Only cusks scattered around the bench.
Maya Gulieva is a writer, artist and educator living in London. She was born in Moscow. You can find her on instagram here.