Digging out the Demons
Begin with gathering tools for weeding:
garden bench, empty bucket, gloves to keep
your hands clean, tool to get at the roots
of stilt grass and Bermuda.
Kneel on the garden bench; start at one end,
work towards the other. Next to the asters
some of the weeds, like memories of yesterday,
come out easily, toss them in the bucket. But others,
like those last days of Kenya, require using
the root tool to get underneath the clump
of rhizome and pry out.
Knock the dirt off, add them to the bucket.
Put the worm back in the soil. Mash the
accumulating plants down to add more.
After it is full, carry to the growing compost pile.
Barbara Brooks, a Pushcart nominee and author of chapbooks The Catbird Sang, A Shell to Return to the Sea, Water Colors and Winter Wheat, is a retired physical therapist. Her work has appeared in Knee Brace Press, Remington Review, Silkworm, Backchannels, among others. She lives with her dog, Ricki, in Hillsborough, NC.
