Cutting

Cutting

“Don’t ever be afraid to cut them back”–

Your only gardening advice to me,

Dad, that seasoned gardeners tell me is true,

Though it would seem counterintuitive

To promote life by diminishing it.

It would seem out of bounds, too, to play god,

To know better than the plant whose kind knows

It can live without me and always has.

Today, as I pluck the shriveled blossoms

From marigolds and admire their fullness,

I recall the splendor of your garden

And the pruners always within your reach.

We all do better when we are cared for.

I see now the cutting says “live; there is more.”

For George Oscar Carlson on the anniversary of his birth, August 24, 2025