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