And the angel said unto thee, Go thou
into your garden and plant Creeping Jenny,
alyssum, Sweet Woodruff to crawl across
the earth, and herbs to bring culinary alchemy
into each and every meal: oregano, rosemary,
lemon balm, chives, sage, and thyme. Then
set deep into the soil two wisteria vines, three
redbud trees, a butterfly bush, lupines, salvia,
zinnias, a hundred zinnias. Wait for the bees.
Wait for the 20,000 kinds of bees, from bumble
to honey to mason. Watch how they live in
harmony, all humming as if they can trust
one another and the petals, stamens, the ways
the flowers make their indifferent offerings
of pollen. Genuflect to the bees that ye may
eat of the fruit of the land. Be ever humble
in your unknowing. Learn the intelligence
of worm, vole, sparrow, spider, how none
needs even a holy word to linger and
work, becoming nothing more than what
they are under the benign disregard of sky,
the unpredictable nonchalance of weather.
