Things to look forward to…
getting things done
The weeds on the house side of the road had gotten ahead of me. I have been pulling crabgrass and wild clematis out of the veg garden a little every day. I also laid down more cardboard between the beds and then covered that with mulch. This is not the best thing for drainage — heavy downpours leave little ponds all over the garden — but it does suppress the weeds. But I’ve been so focused on growing the food and keeping it tidy over there that I haven’t paid enough attention to what was happening over here. And then suddenly I realized that the lavender was drowning in crabgrass, the morning glories had swallowed some rose bushes whole, and the weeds along the curb were getting ready to set seed — which would mean another decade of weed-pulling before all those seeds were exhausted. So it was time to do something.
Fortunately the weather cooperated. Instead of smoke and heat, we got drizzle and cool, grey skies. But I didn’t know that it would be pleasant when I started. I just got up early Saturday morning, put on a face mask and grimly set out to get things done.
I started light, dead-heading around the house and pulling back the lawn as it tried to colonize the perennial and strawberry beds. (Why do we have grass, again?) By the time I got done with that project, I had come to realize that the weather was not going the way the weather folk had planned. I came inside to get a drink of water and left the mask on its hook, and I went back out feeling lighter and more optimistic about my garden goals for the day.
So then I really got to it. I cleared the sidewalk all around the house, uncovered the roses and lavender, trimmed back the thorny shrubs, and ripped out all the cleavers and crabgrass from the front bank. I also picked up a small bagful of trash because people will toss their waste out the car window. I even managed to plant some herbs in the holes I created to that maybe next year there won’t be so many places for weed seeds to sprout.
By mid-afternoon, I had made it look less like an abandoned lot and more like a garden. I had spent more of the day than I probably could afford on the project. I didn’t get much done in the kitchen last weekend. But I could look at it all and think — I did that! I got it done! And that is sometimes better than food.
manannan
the son of the sea is depressed
because what wisdom
draws sustenance from furious waters
no clever chicanery will overcome
to win the day with nary a crossed sword
no mere plague of cursed rodents
these peoples hold naught so dear
as to be held ransom
they make no bargains
unless there be profits accruing
and every god knows cleaning up the mess
is only its own reward
so he thinks as he considers prospects
able hands and well-tended nets
and all his long lore of being
are no match against red tides
no use as the ocean rages
swirling the waste into grim gyres
poisons that will outlive the gods
and so he looks to the sunset
bloodied in smoke and hurricane
and mulls his time like soured wine
he feels worse than forgotten
this disregard is unmaking
as though they never whispered his name
in supplication
before setting out
as though no invocations and offerings
were ever laid on wave-lapped altars
once he was a god
and now…
he is one more grain of sand
tossed aside
by those who know no better
Wednesday Word
for 21 August 2024
ocean
If you choose you can respond in the comments below or go visit the All Poetry contest for August. Your response can be anything made from words. I love poetry, but anything can be poetic and you needn’t even be limited to poetics. An observation, a story, a thought. Might even be an image — however, I am not a visual person, so it has to work harder to convey meaning. In the spirit of word prompts, it’s best if you use the word; but I’m not even a stickler about that. Especially if you can convey the meaning without ever touching the word.
Even if you don’t choose to scribble, at least I’ve made you think about… ocean.
©Elizabeth Anker 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 
Unlike general housework (cooking aside), gardening gives one a real sense of satisfaction for the fruits of your toil are clear to see!
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Oceanic
Primordial stew,
life cooked up
amidst a blue garden
in a great black void.
Great waters encircle
that place called Turtle Island,
where waves brought ancestors
from distant shores.
To return whence
they never left,
the ocean comes
full circle to
where life called home.
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