rooting out honey suckle
sorting crabgrass from rows
of vegetables in the garden
transplanting late tomatoes
watching each settle into soil
as I water with the garden hose
cleaning the vines and wild
undergrowth from blackberries
two years overgrown, already in bloom
down on my hands and knees
pulling, straining, digging, sweating
while the clay soil is wet and pliable
spraying poison ivy, the villain
straining upward to clip neighbor’s trees over-
hanging berry patches
dragging branches to the front yard
for garbage pickup, cleaning
the bathrooms: my body
seeks exhaustion.

-Melva Sue Priddy