by Lisa Franich Lee
I used to plant in neat rows, but
these last few years,
it all grows into a bit of a mess.
Not all of it is for eating.
Some blooms are just for beauty and
some, for attracting the ladybugs.
Such joy when the ladies arrive.
It’s essential you know, to add effort
carrying sacks of dirt and fertilizer
and to break the surface by hand
and mix it in with all of the questions and the suffering and the joy
Best just to stomp it all into the soil.
It’s funny the way that I garden now–
letting the food and the flowers and the weeds grow together.
No need to stress about the weeds.
I only pull the weeds if they crowd out the Sun.
Others come to my garden and ask,
“What did you plant?”
I try and show them, but honestly
I have no idea what’s growing in this space
since I was too tired to label it.
When it finally does grow and bloom
then,
I’ll know what comes next.