We stand at the brink of August
and consider the color changes —
grass from green to flaxen,
daisy stalks to brown

Sunflowers dominate the garden,
tomatoes coming in,
red tassels forming on the corn,
unknown peppers in dark green

There will be other years
when we can shepherd this,
when we have time and infrastructure
to tend the land —
for now we’ll do the work
to make us ready for it,
so we can read the signs
and understand.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 31, 2019