great grandma hannah’s victory garden

by normal

1945
the garden will lay eggs
wild rabbits will come to preach
young eagles will soar overhead
the ghost of a familiar woman will
pass holding a basket
she will hum a lullaby, or maybe
she will hum a dirge —
memories of her colorful head wrap
the wack of her bamboo rake for
eating her worms
the first scratch ever from a cat —
but her garden was not a social
function &
by & by, blood–kin or not,
i turned intruder —
& the gate will fly open
& i will flee
i will be like an uprooted tree
that has learned to dance
& the years will turn their slow grind
i will watch most everything in my
grasp disappear
times jaws will spit out the mistake
— the mistakes will grow honorable
    by that which survives —
                                             jan /20