The morning brings an ache
that moves around each day
A back, a knee, a shoulder –
knuckles swollen, as if I’d won the fight.
I ramble along the path with a limp
and an unfortunately located bite from an insect
that was there before me
but as revenge, won’t be there after.
The plants I moved yesterday
slump over, too traumatized by the extra sun
to give a damn, but hungry for me,
the water god, to bring showers.
The sun sears the back of my neck
medium rare with a tinge of pink.
It cares not for the creatures beneath its gaze,
for its sole purpose is to burn, burn, burn.
I bend down to catch another weed
and come eye level with the motor of a bumblebee
I once read that human odors aggravate bees
but I stink of sweat and they ignore me.
I resist gravity and stand up
To witness the aerial acrobatics of Monarchs
Who have deigned to share their royal presence
I pay fealty with large stands of milkweed.
The gardening session is over
I put away the buckets of tools
Punch out for the day, they don’t pay overtime
And leave the manicured wilds to second shift.
The Green Study 
Love this Michelle: and wow, what a change of pace from your essays, which I also love.
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Thanks, Fransi. I’m due for a change of pace, I think.
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Changing it up is always good I think.
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I love how you brought us there, scratching an itch right along with you.
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Thanks – I felt the need to be a little more whimsical.
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You expressed my yesterday perfectly. Today I think I’ll let the garden tend to itself. My brain needs a rest from the political turmoil but I’m not sure my body should be driven by that unused energy.
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Pat, I think we’re on the same wavelength! I had hoped to relieve some pressure in my brain. Gardening has always been a balm for that, but we’re in the dead heat of summer, bugs are running riot, and I feel so wiped out. Perhaps a gardening/nap detente needs to be reached.
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LOL – after my gardening yesterday, I took a 3 hour nap. It was so wonderful but don’t tell anyone.
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Love the pictures and the poem and I love to garden too. It nourishes my soul.
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Generally it nourishes mine, but I’m at the tipping point that I always hit in July in Minnesota – still trying to maintain a garden while secretly wishing for winter so it will all die and I can curl up with books and a hot cup of tea!
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Well I’m in Fla. so it never really dies….it just goes on hold a month or two.😊
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What a wonderful expression of the earthiness of gardening !
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I always know it’s a good gardening day when I blow my nose and dirt comes out – that’s pretty earthy, too!
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A strong indicator !
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I enjoyed this so much, Michelle, as I do all of your writing. We are multifaceted beings. It’s nice to see our many sides (and talents!).
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Sometimes, too, it’s nice to take a break from one form of writing to fiddle with another.
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Stuck on a train in the middle of the Netherlands your post brought a small smile to my MN face. Sucks the summer sun and it’s seering sun on our beautiful plants. I hope for a nice gentle rain for you and your plants.
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I do, too, but thus far the heat is winning. I will have to be the bringer of rain with my garden hose.
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I enjoyed reading about your perspective on interactions between nature and the flowers. So lovely and true. I’m sure what you wrote is what they are thinking.
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Thank you – I have been lucky this year to see the side affect of my garden flowers and milkweed – lots of Monarchs right now!
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So appropriate
Reading this
Now that my back yard is…mown?
Mowed…
Slashed and burned by the unforgiving,
Relentless ball of gas in the sky…
As am I.
Satisfaction lasts only until I realize
How many weeds I have yet to pull.
Never-ending blister field
LAWN!
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