State of Nature
June 22 2009


I am no green thumb;
my brief conceit as a gardener
undone.

Although the pin-cherry
which was so long to bud
has put out blossoms
for the very first time.

And the hostas
are indestructible,
their giant leaves
unfurling in the shade.

Dandelions
tapping into deep moist soil
have turned to puff,
a hundred long thin stems
sticking-up —
like veins
post-dissection.

Day lilies, as I’ve come to expect
will bloom all summer,
despite my neglect,
The dogwood, though, looks spent —
a few shrivelled leaves, brittle stems,
their vibrant red
faded.
And vetch
winds its way everywhere,
the exacting grass
long dead.

I survey my garden
with dread,
too long left
to nature.
But the excess
the disorder
the wildly exuberant green,
are a kind of Eden.

My garden
reclaiming itself.
And how a wild world will look,
liberated
from out brief despotic
occupation.