most deeply
and the monarchs that will not come
because of that: the deaths lead
to absence, the guests invited
but the dinner unprepared.
It is the white tablecloth of snow
that keeps the buddleia
from their place as centerpiece
and main course
that reduces them to a pile of sticks
and the experienced gardener's glance
smug, a bit pitying.
Each year I plant them again
and each winter I agonize -
did I do it right?
Not this year.
Again, not this year.
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Comments: 6
Great imagery.
What 'twas zone 4 to 5 transforms
And winters of discontent
Unfold to springs
Of wonderment