Mike James: Since You Left

my clothes

don’t match the way

painters and sunday

school teachers

say they should

a friend told me

it looks like you’ve

given up trying

i know what

he meant, but

he’s wrong

truth is, lately,

i hardly think of clothes

i’m more concerned

with my garden

and all i didn’t plant

this spring

true, there are peppers,

both hot and bell,

and cucumbers,

zuchinnis,

and enough

tomatoes to keep

the squirrels

happy in their

pillage

there’s even a

little basil,

a little dill

i’ve never planted

flowers in my garden,

beside vegetables

and herbs, i’ve not

planted them

beside the

porch steps

or mailbox

there are none

anywhere in

my yard

they serve

no purpose

but beauty

i thought

nothing lines

the driveway

but grass and a

few, large festive

painted rocks

you left for me

to pick up,

not toss

—

Copyright 2016 Mike James