Pushing ditches
Into rocky
Brigham City soil
Was an early chore
Of my youth.

And now, at fifty
The foremat hasn't
Changed much--
"Not too close
But close enough,

"Look ahead to
Keep it straight,
Stop and move
The large ones,
Monitor the slope,

"Don't forget
The drainage
At the bottom,
Lilacs and peonies
Get it last

"(We'll need them
On Memorial Day),
Then shovel a
North diversion
For high water."

And etching here
Again upon the
Garden of my youth,
I sense its pattern
Pressed into my life.

06/12/2002

Posted on 09/20/2002
Copyright © 2024 Leonard M Hawkes