Desperately trying to grow a tiny lawn

The pathetic lawn turned to mud as the children splashed joyfully, while

Scattered tufts of fescue gratefully sprinkled with water may have smiled

I would have liked to see.

The lawn, the lawn, the tiny lawn that I had tried to grow again

Not once, twice, thrice, four times, but five, finally succumbing to the

Roar of the gas powered aerator, the layer of lawn compost, the special seed, 

The special sprinkler that runs twice per day, shredding all aspirations to save water.

Hoping against hope for a lawn, a tiny lawn, big enough for a kiddy pool

For the one who just arrived in this world, for the two that visit in the summer.

A month in, if I stare at it at a low angle, it looks greener, but on close inspection

The straggly blades do not impress, punctuated by enthusiastic holes dug by local squirrels,

The lawn calls to me to work again, to fill the holes, to spread more seed and to pray

For rain.