For my mom

...A dispatch with love

Mom, Mommy,

I made a garden for you

Verbena

Poppies

Daisies

There’s creeping thyme

And creeping time

And roses you would love

Climbing all over a raggedy fence

A bit old and creaky like me

I flick squash bores off squash

And beetles off roses just like you would

But, of course, they’re back in seconds

Completely unperturbed

I made a really good dinner last night

I wish I could have shared it with you

Eggplant and zucchini

Roasted in olive oil

Then a bit of feta

Do you eat up there? Do you walk?

Did your feet stop hurting you?

Do you see flowers rising from the earth?

Or trees pushing forth buds?

Do birds matter or flowers or music?

Can you hear now what you couldn’t hear before?

Do you see me here?

Do you see Zeke in heaven? Do you see Hannah?

Do you see the garden I made for you?

The garden as I planted it.

A flower that grew in it.