Famous Last Words
Famous Last Words
Part I–Spring
Next year in the garden I won’t plant my seeds too early just because I am excited by a warm day in April. I will wear a long sleeve shirt while pruning roses, raspberries, and blackberries. I will open seed packets the right way so that they reseal. I won’t just rip off the tops, then wonder why my pockets are filled with spilled seed.
Next year in the garden I will read the instructions before planting the seeds. That is, I will read the instructions IF I remember my reading glasses. Gardening is yet one more activity that now requires those damn things.
Next year in the garden I won’t read the newspapers as I lay down the mulch, and I will take off my muddy boots before coming into the kitchen.
I won’t shout “Ignition!” when I see the first green dots of germination. I won’t pump my fist and say “Yes!” when green shoots of garlic poke through the hay. I will take it in stride, with the right stuff of a master gardener.
Next year in the garden I will keep detailed records of what I do, when, and where. I won’t mark planted rows with little sticks and kid myself that I will remember what I planted.
And I won’t plant too many zucchini, or too few. I promise.
Part 1 of my prose/poem “Next Year in the Garden.”