I Am No Match for Drought and Heat

I am no match for drought and heat.
My perennial perennials have done their best,
but my avoidance of garden plots and spots
has brought disaster to all involved in this year’s
Summer Orchestration.
It does not soothe the soul to gaze upon its totality
From my kitchen window.

The weeds do not enthrall.

Where annuals and careful tending have wrought calm in past,
this year is emptiness or worse.
The products of seeds dispersed
by that which I used to pull out with vigor
have triumphed this time around.
The rabbits do not care as they hang about,
nibbling with unceasing self-possession.

What man neglects, wildlife will have for its own.

I complain of knees and back that hurt me,
of lack of funds, of water bans,
of anything to make me seem the one to pity.
“She has worked so hard in past years.
It should have paid her back
with gratitude.”
But, no, that is not Nature’s way.
Attentiveness, or nothing will hold sway.

A single dandelion – late in the season –
lifts its blossoming head, and laughs.

Viewed on Saturday

A pair of goldfinches
visits the backyard.
They balance on flower stems
then are gone.