The Neglected Garden

Although I neglect it now,
Beauty abides in this space;
Life persists, and prevails,
With or without my spade.

Even if the design I laid
Has blurred,
I see it shifting subtly
Into a more natural arrangement.

Each plant is here because I brought
It, its parent, or its seed,
Or merely made
A better place for it to grow;

But just the plants
That belonged have stayed.
(The others
Vanished one by one.)

Mostly what I did
Was stir things up, enrich the mix,
And fertilize this bit of glade

©2002 John I. Blair

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