to those who garden

to those who garden,

we watch every few hours to see if any seedlings

have emerged from warm soil,

even knowing that we have started them too late,

that we'll be wandering the farmer's market gathering

larger plants come those sunny days of late May.

to those who garden,

we know that the thrill is no less that life

springs from the tiniest seeds, as we know that

our own children have sprouted from within

and grown taller than we are.

All parents are gardeners, some with the

patience of the organic gardners, adding compost

and mulch year by year, others pushing for the 

quick fix of high nitrogen synthetic chemicals.

I garden the slow way, patiently, with optimism,

my children are tall and can bend in the wind

without breaking.