from Report from the Pirie Society, Vol. 1 No. 1
Vegetable soup
unthawed in
January
smells like my
garden.
Under the
feeder
sparrows and
squirrels – all good
things come
from above.
***
I had a radish
in April, and
another
in May. Ate
them both.
Relentless
beetles
and very hungry
caterpillars
as necessary.
My plot produces
reluctantly.
Two carrots
are better than
one.
After October
pumpkins gather
in the field
a faceless crowd.
***
Vernacular
crows
talk to
me. I understand
all the black
ones.
Crows didn’t
caw us
out of the
garden. We left
when we felt
like it.
Monty Reid is an Ottawa poet and gardener. Author of a dozen poetry collections and many chapbooks (including 5 from above/ground), his latest book, The Lockdown Elegies, will appear this fall.