Late February
It is time to bonfire the skeleton
of last year’s garden, maybe during
a Bible study for the college group
or, one evening, when it is not too
cold, and not too warm, but just right.
I made a pile of all that doesn’t last:
spindly squash stems, brittle tomato vines,
unplucked weeds (now hollow straw),
easy to yank from the snow-tender earth.
My toddler says: “I help you,” and plucks
up a gray stem full of dried seed pods that
makes the sound of a musical egg when she
shakes them. Were I a better gardener, I
would store them in a ziplock bag, inking
their name across the see-through plastic.
Maybe one day I will become that person.
Right now, I am just experimenting;
planting, and waiting to see what happens.
I don’t mind going to Walmart for new seeds
this Spring. I kind of enjoy picking them out.
It is late February, and we stay outside
until we can no longer feel our toes.
Perfect
What a vivid capture of Creation!