By Stephen Andersen
Chased from the garden, wind biting
The season’s change unexpected
Dormant perennials resting
Winter sunshine is soft to the eye
Promises of spring to succor
Beckoning by cloudless blue sky
Soil to prepare, no easy sod
Holes to dig wielding mattock and shovel
Thin soil tops layers of thirsty clay clod
The smaller garden lays fallow
Fruit trees fan out to provide shade
A quiet space, sparse and hallow
Blackberry hedge, verdant running
Uncrowded roots relish rich soil
Enlarged space succulent spreading
Soil easily tilled hides hardpan
Mattock breaks brittle compacted
Clay, to mold with ashes and sand
A windbreak of branches and limbs
Gales unrelenting, bring havoc
Shredded plants appear sparse and grim
Summer growth is coaxed and nurtured
Birds feast on pesky grasshoppers
By vociferous swarm perturbed
I will build dwellings for their nests
Will provide water for their drink
They keep at bay the garden pests
Up at dawn, simple existence
Songbirds to awaken the day
The eastern sky in pastel tints
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