[Allen Tice]

I don't recall if you changed to this word from something else, but the specificity of "city" water seems, um, somehow, forgive me, insincere. One could say it poisons the entire thing, and might lead suburban readers to atheism or worse.

[R. S. Gwynn]

Allen, I have been drinking city water all my life and am not dead yet.

[Jim Moonan]

Sam: "I have been drinking city water all my life and am not dead yet."

Right there.

Why not use this as an epigraph and attribute it to the avocado pit?
It seems to embody the same quality of hope you evoke as the poem comes to a close.

[Allen Tice]

Sam, I think we all are glad you are flourishing. "City" water may have rhythms that could make it seem altogether indispensable. Even so, there are plenty of low-octane alternatives like "faucet," "simple," or "daily."

[R. S. Gwynn]

Allen, in the South we call what comes out of the faucet "city water" even if we live in a town--unless it's "hose water." Other kinds of water are well water and spring water. We didn't have bottles for any of that stuff when I was growing up. The stuff that came in bottles was co-cola or pop. If it came in a plastic bleach bottle it was probably illegal. Occasionally one read in the paper about somebody getting busted for illegal possession of too many white plastic bleach bottles. I'm not kidding.

[Allen Tice]

I'm sure you're not. It's of a piece with my encounters, though I never spent extended time farther in there than urban South Carolina; my week or two at Baylor and outside Athens, Texas, didn't memorably raise the issue. I guess I hosed my lawn with Carolina city water. In Brooklyn, people still often talk of "going into the city" when they shop in Manhattan; Istanbul gets its name from being "the city; investment area London is "the city." But I digress.

[Jim Moonan]

I apologize for crashing in again with little substance to offer... But thought you would get a kick out of this:

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pitless-av...194457606.html

Turns out your pits poem is headed for obsolescence. The future is pitiless.

[R. S. Gwynn]

This is truly the pits, Jim.

[John Isbell]

Hi Sam,

I'd separate the ending into two tercets.
This is elegant, and thoughtful, but I've waited this long to comment because I have trouble convincing myself that avocado pits can carry the weight you place in that vessel. I'm still hesitant.

Cheers,
John