a network of tough roots, skinny green runners.
They're going for total takeover.
Creeping charlie travels from lawn to garden,
smothers all in its path.
Weeds with arrowhead leaves
insinuate their roots around
strawberries fighting for a share of sun.
Garden fork turns over big clods
and I shake the earth loose, discard weeds,
dig to loosen a chunk of root.
Down on hand and knees now,
gloves off, bare fingers
disentangle leaf from leaf.
Must work slowly
or berry plants would come out
with the weeds. This is why
the farmer in the parable says
don't even try it, wait till harvest,
then we'll sort it all out.
I can't wait. This root-by-root,
stem-by-stem intervention must go on.
The weeds have speed on their side
and I'm not fast enough.
2 comments:
the weeds have won. after i read this i decided there was just no point. :0
thanks joanne!!!!
fun!
why not take out the article, "The", at the beginning and jump right into it?
Weeds have speed on their side.
you could trim a few words here and there to make this even stronger (like weeds!).
I love the "gloves off", having just spent the weekend fighting back the jungle!
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