The sun casts short shadows
and a young goldfinch flits
from one cluster of poplar leaves
to another before setting out
in the midday breeze to cross
a sea of purple thistles. She lilts
through the air like a song, settles
down to feed on ripening seed.
The finch sings and is answered,
the buzzing of cicadas fills the air.
But bullfrogs are quiet, their romancing
calls saved for sundown.
Amidst the wild and weedy scene
I close my eyes and imagine
a clipped and tidy lawn rolling down
toward a pretty pond. But the price
of order would be high. Where would
the thick black snake that masquerades
as a floating stick go? Where would
the one-eyed turtle live? Where would
the dragonflies, which dart across
the fecund surface of the pond, dine?
— from Juniper Volume 8, Issue 1