Winter
February sends
a harvest of catalogues:
Promises of spring.
He dog-ears pages
and orders sleeping seeds.
He will tuck them in
Gently in the earth.
Every year, an act of faith:
He plants again.
Spring
Leftover carrots
We abandoned last autumn
Emerge triumphant.
Earthworms, persistent
Tunnel through cold, hard soil:
Frost retreats.
Seedlings one inch tall
Reach eagerly for the sun--
Hungry baby birds.
Summer
Vampire aphids
Drain life-blood from tomatoes.
Come back lady bugs!
Lightning flickers
Cloud to cloud. False promises.
We water by hand.
Daylilies trumpet
Raise proud heads high. They rule
Only for one day.
Fall
Abundant harvest,
lettuce, zucchini, scallions--
Rabbits take their tithe.
The frost wins this race.
One hundred green tomatoes
Wrapped, in paper bags.
A blanket of mulch
covers the quiet garden:
He whispers goodnight.