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NOON GARDEN TOUR WITH MY GRANDDAUGHTER

(For Liana)

Look there, under the maple,

Light filtering through leaves,

A pas de deux of sun

And dappled shadows.

Green and white

Hostas thrive there on light

Filtered through maple’s thin

Branches—even those ferns

Like a bit of sun.

But there in beds facing south,

Black eyed susans love to bake,

Turn a scorched single eye toward the torch,

Their bright, yellow petals

Mirror the sky’s fire;

Day lilies stretch out their necks,

Like women holding reflectors

To gather sun to their faces;

Phlox, dazzling white, in shimmering

Noon sun, their heads cool

In seersucker white. Listen, cicadas

Sing in harmony with kadydids as if

To revel in noon heat.

A lesson: See these geraniums?

A cut branch placed in soil,

Will root, send out velvet leaves,

And bouquets of pink flowers. Remove

The dead bouquets—new ones will bloom.

Quick over there! That yellow and black butterfly,

Flops and dances like a puppy

Whose feet are too big for his body,

Then glides in perfect control of huge wings.

Liana, did you see it all?