6th July 2020

six a.m. sunshine

segues into overcast

idle lawnmower

© Rachel Green July 2020

Pillaging Ramsons

carry a trowel under my jacket

furtive dogwalking through a wooded glade

foraging through hawthorn trees, a racket

from the nearby houses. Childhood made

a refuge from the world. And there the scent

of garlic; faint through withered leaves and bud.

Through hard-packed soil I dig, while Dog is bent

on rolling in the dirt. He's found some mud

and excrement of fox. Oh, God, he stinks!

A bath for him when homeward bound we go

but first, the pale white bulbs emerge. I thinks

to gather up a dozen plants or so.

This food for free lark easy said and done

when everything I need is garden won.

© Rachel Green July 2020