Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Lessons of Springtime

1. It Doesn't Pay to Be Pretty

The young children
in the neighborhood
invariably pass by
my budding
azalea bushes,
hardly noticing them at all.
But over the years
I have learned
the most important lesson
of springtime:
you must always appreciate
beautiful things
while you have them
and solemnly morn them
when they are gone,
for everything in this
ebb and flow universe
is a precious gift,
available only to those
with open eyes.

2. The Devil Has a Furry Tail

The godless squirrels
have dug up my
zoysia plugs
for the fifth time
this week.
I know that
squirrels are
hard-wired
by nature
to unearth their nuts
in the dew-dappled
month of May
when the ground has
sufficiently thawed,
and that my
poor front lawn
is nothing more than
collateral damage,
in the wonderful
pageant that is
springtime.
It still doesn’t make me
hate the little bastards
any less.

3. Nature is a Cosmic Snuff Fest

Spring rains
pour over the tiny seedlings
in my garden,
bending them almost
to the ground.
Some of the weaker
plants will perish
under the rain’s fury,
but the stronger ones
always manage
to survive…
Take this lesson
to heart,
my son:
nature despises
weak things.

4. If You're Useless, You Will Die

The weeds
in my garden
always get
pulled up
by their
little asses
and left to die
a hideous death
in the blistering heat
of the midday sun.
I suppose
someone should mourn
their untimely demise,
but no one seems
to give a damn.
They’re only weeds,
after all.

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