Untitled 11

orange, red
yellow, brown
tomato, potato
mustard crown
in a garden
colors grow
in the rows
of seeds I sow
dusky dawn
and dewy down
peas in pods
in pumpkin town
ripe then rotten
swollen and blown
color and smell
set the tone
as the inward
outward die
seeds rebirth
deep inside
then untended,
the rows outgrown,
replanting themselves
where seeds were sown
lettuce defect
beside zucchini
who with cucumber
forms a treaty
radishes in red
dig their mines
beans and peas
strangle their vines
the cherry tomato
drops its bombs
while mint and parsley
sing a psalm
green to yellow
to orange to red
nothing stays
within its bed
the hand unplucking
untrimming, unsown
cannot see
the garden alone
though through touch
it makes its mark
the hand stays blind
to all the bark

~ R. Harder