"Garden"
for Betty
I have no garden to speak of,
only a green plastic lawn
and there is no real prospect
of growing flowers or herbs
and somewhere in Manhattan
Bobby Hackett is on the cornet
featuring Lee Wiley, and for a while
I am lost in Central Park
and the jazzy sounds of Summertime
make up for the loss of my garden
so Betty, I have no apple geranium
only the grasses growing in a concrete
box, and would you care to join me
for walk around the rectangle
and I can show you the main features,
minute cracks that are caused by stress
from earthquakes, and all those creatures
the centipede, the lizard with half a tail,
caught by the flea-ridden neighbour's cat,
the dandilions, the pine that leans across
to taunt the fact, everything natural
is in retreat, taken over by plastic and rusting
household items, and now Lee Wiley
in a lovely number, a white silk dress
has finished, there's the treat of rain,
maybe there will be a bout of lightning
to illuminate the excuse of a garden.
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