Sanctuary
 
you hold   (your own place)
nettles, scotch thistle, dame’s rocket, chickweed
wild lettuce, blue clouds of forget-me-not
unkempt
at the back of the garden
 
sun stencils sumac, warm smells
of lilac, dark shade under maples
one toad
 
dig, dig in deep, in this life
world peace 
will not come, regardless 
your trowel, careful 
 
furrows the small
mirror shimmer of raindrops
while a frond of green fern
unordered
uncared for
uncurls
out of earth.
 
 
 
 

 
Sanctuary,
(in The Northern Appeal Issue 6 2019, p.23 )