Clean Up Garden

The Clean Up Garden

Owning what used to be shared,
sorting what's been cast off,
rearranging trash into pathways,
using decay for fertilizer,
looking forward to soul food.

Making Beds

i dug a deep hole.
i filled it with old firewood
from an old
relationship
and made a garden bed.
there’s more in the pile.
i’ll put it to good use
before snakes wake
in warm weather.

Change of Season

change of season

i contemplated Not
planting seeds this Spring
not singing Praise of
budding fruits,
forgetting my watering can
let come what may

but couldn’t turn away

from the Winter broccoli
sowed in the bleakest moment
of the shortest day

i would never Receive
what i was owed
what i sewed…

a quilt of nutrition
green flowers of the
Winter Sun and Rain

never savor the unique flavor
traced in the Roots of my hands
cast Iron pans
the voices of boys grown

an open Question

It Will Change

When everything is grey and cold
and the world seems old and weary
is when everything changes.

When everything is grey and cold 
and the world seems old and weary
 is when everything changes.

moonset in the morning

the Universe collides in me i see infinity — the universe collides in me i see infinity

Strawberry Surprise

Two strawberry flowers blooming in December in Upstate South Carolina. — strawberry flowers

While stepping on
carefully placed stones 
on an errand
in the garden
of my hours,
my eyes scour 
either side of the path,
spotting weeds
and winter chores
waiting for me.
Sometimes a surprise, 
like strawberry flowers 
for Christmas.

The Rooster is Crowing

It's raining and dark
but the rooster is crowing
knowing the light will come.

There was a large moon
even waning it looked full
but now the rooster crows.

There will be light soon
the rain will fall everywhere
on the garden.

The plants will grow.
The rooster will crow.
Why don't people like roosters?

I love to hear the rooster crow.
I know he's being he
and I'm being me

and there will be light
because the rooster is crowing
knowing that the light will come.

The Dragon will Soon Sleep

My garden draws me into its minute details
derails my attempts to prevail with straight lines
or orderly arrangements, continually demanding
my engagement. The weeds are overgrown into
the path again. The bees, butterflies, biting ants
demonstrate business just like me, finding 
sustenance in the flowers until their last hours.
The dragon breathes her last gusts of fire into
the approaching winter. She will hibernate
with the first frost and I too will curl up and dream.

Setting up for Spring

The future is buried beneath rich soil.

I searched for good dirt in the compost with my shovel. 
I hoed two empty garden beds and made rows. 
With my trowel I made holes for garlic bulbs in the beds, 
and buried tulip and daffodil bulbs in my pots and kitchen boxes. 
With my imagination I see so much more than dirt. 
I pray that we will all rise toward the sun come spring, 
and the world will be more beautiful.

My Cat Loves My Hat

My cat loves my hat.

My cat is no help in the garden.
He doesn't warn me when ants crawl up my pants.
He doesn't know a weed from a seed.
He sleeps while I sweat and sweat.
He wants to play and I shoo him away
before he attacks me with his claws 
and snaps his jaws.
My cat doesn't love me. 
He loves my hat.