032420

the garden
cries out for the tiller
snip, snip

091719c

I call them morning glories
they bloom as the sun rises
she calls them bindweed
they strangle the other flowers
the ones she put in the ground
I've learned to love the wildflowers
she calls weeds

071619c

Bamboo roots honeycomb the yard
every spring, shoots reach for the sky
ever hopeful
if we let them live one year
no one would ever find our house

060319d

crabgrass
gains a foothold
habitat 1

rigorous precautions
taken at the spaceport

Purple spider wort
nods beneath each window
worse: my dog has fleas

071518

With weed trees cut (they grow more than a foot a week in this climate), the Jerusalem artichokes (a tuber/sunflower) are the tallest things in the garden.

052618

My youngest & her husband survived a harrowing journey from TX to LA, and fit a trailer load of furniture & stuff in a storage unit. Now: house hunting! After they move, they'll be several hours closer to us.

Also, by Thursday I'll have enough in my paypal acct to respond to my entire backlog of DN submissions. What I accept will go in the Sept. issue.


among the weeds
flowers of amaryllis and garlic
the weeds must go

112717c

neglected garden

purple and orange blossoms
spiky dewberry vines

next year

walnuts and pecans
a meter tall

06 2317c

6 inches of rain
fell in three days
weeds stretch fingers high

061617

inextricable weeds
snipped off at the ground
brown accusers

042117

chest-high spider wort
fills the garden next door
death flower

041617b

spiderwort rises
above the mass of weeds
blue eyes open

032117b

white flowers
in graceful curves
dewberries
a million thorns to hold
but sweetness in the mouth

112516b

bright winter sun
coaxes green from the weeds
pure yards are brown

070616b

Summer in the South

The green outside is mostly weeds
walnut trees 3 feet in height
dream of raining green baseballs
on our car and house
oak trees and grapevines strangle roses
on a gray fence
too weak to hold itself upright
if we removed the trees
the fence would fall
damned if we do or don't
the other fence is hidden
by a bamboo forest
does the fence still stand?
vines creep up the walls
a foot or more per day
well anyway the crêpe myrtles bloom
zinnias, lilies, roses, Lantana, and something else
whose name I cannot now recall
so, forgive the weeds
but do not spare them
compost for next year's veggies
mulch for this year's crop

keep your enemies closer

Almost a comfort when you think about it

Violet was an early bloomer
pretty, too
but soon she turned up everywhere
overshadowed by others, for a time
but tenacious
your worst nightmare, even
after poison ivy, dewberry
english ivy, kudzu, bamboo, cat briar
redbud, honeysuckle, those nasty trees with scaly bark
[pause for breath]