Delight in Dirt
"If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate." ~ Mary Oliver, "Don't Hesitate"
I rip away foxtails, shepherd’s tail, spurge,
dead-head lilies to reveal sprouting cosmos,
fold ranunculus corms into crumbly soil.
Gardening makes my heart leap.
I share dad’s farmer genes,
the need to nourish bare earth,
coax yellow trumpet blooms from buried daffodil bulbs,
propagate roses, rhododendrons, hibiscus.
Delight burgeons when transplanting
orange autumn chrysanthemums,
white winter cyclamen,
pink snapdragons in spring,
red summer zinnia.
My spirit blossoms
as gloved hands pluck out nettles,
tuck rich organic mulch
around azaleas, geraniums,
divide bearded iris.
While neighbors apply herbicides, rock salt,
eradicate all vegetation,
I pour sweat, blisters, love into my small plot,
invoke green life, make naked dirt flower.
Jennifer Lagier has published sixteen books. Her work has appeared most recently in From Everywhere a Little: A Migration Anthology, Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California, Missing Persons: Reflections on Dementia, Silent Screams: Poetic Journeys Through Addiction & Recovery. Newest books: Camille Mobilizes (FutureCycle) and Trumped Up Election (Xi Draconis Books). Website: jlagier.net
"If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate." ~ Mary Oliver, "Don't Hesitate"
I rip away foxtails, shepherd’s tail, spurge,
dead-head lilies to reveal sprouting cosmos,
fold ranunculus corms into crumbly soil.
Gardening makes my heart leap.
I share dad’s farmer genes,
the need to nourish bare earth,
coax yellow trumpet blooms from buried daffodil bulbs,
propagate roses, rhododendrons, hibiscus.
Delight burgeons when transplanting
orange autumn chrysanthemums,
white winter cyclamen,
pink snapdragons in spring,
red summer zinnia.
My spirit blossoms
as gloved hands pluck out nettles,
tuck rich organic mulch
around azaleas, geraniums,
divide bearded iris.
While neighbors apply herbicides, rock salt,
eradicate all vegetation,
I pour sweat, blisters, love into my small plot,
invoke green life, make naked dirt flower.
Jennifer Lagier has published sixteen books. Her work has appeared most recently in From Everywhere a Little: A Migration Anthology, Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California, Missing Persons: Reflections on Dementia, Silent Screams: Poetic Journeys Through Addiction & Recovery. Newest books: Camille Mobilizes (FutureCycle) and Trumped Up Election (Xi Draconis Books). Website: jlagier.net
