A Little Help

The plants are in and watered,
little deposits of dirt and roots
promising to be more if tended.
It took a friend to help me step down

to the place where the bare soil waited,
fertility confused by it’s unbroken surface
when all I needed was the helping hand
of a younger body’s frame

a kind eye and steady arm
not afraid to go
searching in the dark for the lost
end of the meandering hose

and the joy found in handing me
varied treasures waiting to be
buried in the dark dirt.
Only after feeding

my helper some of another harvest
did I have enough guts to venture out
into the small garden space awaiting my touch
listening for the sound of the hand hoe

hitting against the wood edge of the barrel
the root bursting herbs erupting
in my hands like rumbling
volcanoes of stems and leaves

no longer content to shelter beneath
the surface. Tomorrow will find
the living leaf rivers flowing from the beds,

gold orgegano falling in cascades
fountains of tri-color sage
and lemon verbena erupting.

5-24-05