Across

for JML

"It's no accident, that garden—the wall of the yard,
tall as a man, curves precisely behind it,
and the sidewalk edge is trimmed, straight, tended.
The garden itself could, at first, be a patch
of unusually healthy weeds—but then you notice
tomatoes, runner beans, zucchini, decorative blossoms.
From the upstairs window where I've put my desk
it's a parable. But we preachers lean to such thoughts.
Sometimes a mother pauses a stroller
for vegetable lessons. Students pass in numbers,
rarely glancing, full of rich self-involvement,
on occasion fingering a leaf, as if inspecting plastic.
Once, only, a short fellow in overalls
reached out and plucked a tomato (surely the best)
and strode off, unabashed, unpunished,
and (as he imagined) unobserved."

Mocker

Along the Path

"So quickly, without a moment's warning, does the miraculous swerve and point to us."
     — Mary Oliver