Joan Fishbein’s poem The Complexity of Technology appeared here in March 2014.
The Yield
By Joan Fishbein
she understood the shape and size of her lot
the water flow wind pattern
when she looked out the kitchen windows
she pictured texture foliage aroma
of what she wanted to smell this summer
through silvery screens
she planned to place potted zinnias
asparagus ferns sage lavender along the low garden wall
late afternoon sun hit like a second thought
a moment before it blazed behind the tall pines
then faded and settled somewhere else
as she watched her twin boys seven years old
bat a baseball across the still bare yard
she considered how earth gives and takes
takes and gives over and over again
if a plant won’t thrive you can turn the soil
irrigate mulch cut back
with children you listen speak to them nourish love
cope focus hope for the best