Garden Report

Lemon balm continues its mission
To take over the world
Or at least this one flowerbed.
Crushed leaves flavor air with lemon,
Pungent.

Tough, woody lavender
sends forth delicate fronds
On gray-green branches,
proof that age can still be
Beautiful.

Leaves of daffodils are dead;
Time to pull them up
And let the bulbs multiply
Underground, out of sight,
Secret.

Japanese beetles dissect the hollyhocks.
Skeletal leaves trace on hairy stems;
Ballerina skirts hide
in the anticipated flower,
Dancing.

Bergamot is full of bees
Buzzing busily about their business
Of collecting nectar for the hive,
For the honey, golden and
Sweet.

The gardener hoists her grass-stained trousers
With dirt-stained hands
That leave a stripe of brown across her forehead
As she wipes away salty sweat;
Done.