Garden Fever

Garden Fever

 with apologies to John Masefield


 I must go down the garden again, to the lonely shed and the sky,

 And all I ask is spade and fork to dig the ground so dry;

 Watch marrows grow, runner beans sway and fruit trees in the morning,

 A grey mist of aphid pests, and the courgettes forming.


 I must go down the garden again, in the sun the wind and the rain

 And all I ask is the hosepipe will not trip me up again;

 And all I want is a calm day with the blue tits flying,

 And secateurs and lots of string and the pigeons crying.


 I must go down the garden again, tying beans to their tall poles

 To the blackbird’s way and the robin’s way as it blows a tornado;

 And all I ask is a ball of string from a helpful fellow-gardener,

 And harvest fit to serve the wife when the Lockdown’s over.

Margaret Evans