Front of the House

In the front of our house

a courtyard is forming

what used to be there 

gone 

what used to be there

had been worse than emptiness 

soil covered with a barrier upon which gravel lay

In the front of our house

there is now emerald lawn

Wildflowers have tiny green tops in one corner

Over there, an apple tree spreads arms tipped with buds

Here, the stoic oak has not found spring

Lilacs give birth to green buds and tiny tight promises of flowers and fragrance

In the front of our house 

circles of smooth basalt pebbles 

Quartz and pretty little marbles 

looking like agates 

will be laid in cement for a path 

curving past the fountain to the door

In front of our house

grape vines teeter in their cartons

awaiting arch 

arch in need of heavy footings

Garden of becoming 

within walls 

walls to hold away shards of chaos

chaos created by people

by people not even here

Outside the garden wall here

once mighty Rio Grande

has pulled back 

defined now the narrow riparian ribbons

While inside the garden wall

sand soil shows river was here

here before the chaos 

churning through this desert 

creating green edges to everything 

#NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month

A poem a day in April