Landscaping

~ Norfolk Botanical Gardens

Yesterday it was calving
    of glaciers. Today, it is
the arms of sick starfish 
    melting into pools of jelly
on the beach. Sea urchins
   have eaten a giant banquet
of kelp in warm ocean water. 
   I wonder how many people 
ate of the largest and most 
   expensive bluefin tuna 
purchased after the new year
   in Japan. When we went 
for a walk we saw a white 
   wading bird out at the end 
of the dock. Behind the bank,
   a row of loblolly pines; 
crabapple, horsetail, white oak. 
   Bulbs waking in the ground 
too early in season, a disc 
   of brittle ice sealing 
the surface of a bamboo well.
   We can't tell what month
and in what year we'll meet 
   our end and step onto that 
raked pathway to the gods. 
   See how the sunlight breaks
into shadows scattered on stone;
   how the mouths of orchids open
in their beds, remembering rain.