an elegy of clouds
yesterday i cut the tall grasses
cursing and creaking
just the same as every year
all complaints and mess and
blisters
i thought of you as i snipped and gathered
wondering why i bother
with these spreading earth-takers
clucking at the way
their roots
have broken the box i built for them
and thinking perhaps
it’s time to dig them up
plant some dahlias
maybe
but then i remembered
how much i love to listen
to the sound they make in summer
each tiny gust of wind
whispering ten thousand secrets
in a language i don’t understand
i thought of all the times
i’ve used them for shade in late august
pad and pencil recording streams
of words i can’t quite hear
and that day a black striped dragonfly
landed on my knee
with a message i still can’t
decipher
and then i gathered up my tools
and walked inside
no decision but my thirst
to let them stay
.
.
A poem a day for 30 days, in honor of National Poetry Month. Day 3
I’m participating in NaPoWriMo, and Writer’s Digest Poem a Day Challenge.
.
April 3rd, 2015 at 11:04 am
this is one of my favorites of your poems – of which there are manymany.
but this – the sound they make in summer is heaven, and a black striped dragonfly is hard to top. love, love.
April 3rd, 2015 at 11:51 am
Ahh…you know this delights my gardener’s soul, Kelly, and also speaks of a common experience for me–I have chosen(after years growing them at other homes) not to plant grasses where I live, but now, suddenly, I miss them, for all their faults. That sound, and their look of running water made into form…maybe in a very large pot??? Loved this.
April 3rd, 2015 at 12:37 pm
i liked the sound the dahlias make the best, but the whole time i was reading this, i couldn’t help but wishing that you would come and cut my tall grass and tend my roses. 🙂
The Befuddled Flatulent Blogger
April 3rd, 2015 at 4:11 pm
🙂
April 3rd, 2015 at 4:36 pm
ah. lovely ~