The Garden

The snow is nearly gone out by the garden,

just the crusty remains of the snow piled there

in my plowing and some small patches frozen still

in the shade of the low brush nearby, but spring

warmth and wind have cleared that little plot of land

where my perennials need to be tended to this year.

I’m not much for gardening, to be honest, just want

to put the plants in the ground and watch them bloom,

coming back every year with little help from me,

and this past year they did grow, but weakly, a feeble attempt

from the previous years’ abundance, little color and spindly stalks.

Today, the sun shining, is a good day to take out my rake and hoe

and spade and dig around the garden, take out some

plants, perhaps put in some new ones, turn the soil

to breath and drink in the rain of April showers, and add

some fertilizer, extra nutrients, nourishment my long ago

forest soil just can’t provide anymore. They need,

like all of us, a little help to blossom and bloom, to fill

the world with ourselves, our winter shed and our beauty

shared in the passing of seasons, the warming of the days ahead.