In ours, though it’s early yet, wild flowers
from last year’s seeds have begun.
You’ve said we’d be wiser to go with started
plants this season: basil, sage, thyme
—a half dozen of each in small plastic pots
and a bag of new soil. You’re not to handle
any of this and so you’ve set up a folding chair,
watch and coach as I lift each root-bound
brick from its brittle green container, place it
in the black loam I’ve spread. I break the edges
of these store-bought blocks with my thumb
rake the surrounding soil to it with my fingers.
We water the whole bed now —a good soaking,
you say —but gentle. The trick is to take the time.
Tom Driscoll Writing 