the garden goes on
far into September nights
when i make salsa
and another quiche
made by my girl while canning
consumed my evening
Cherish the Earth
gratitude
Garden Every Moment
instructions, really?
i’ll pour it into a pan
and hope for the best
zucchini: the best.
it will make anything work
(yes, like my husband)
can you imagine?
finding this at age nineteen?
this gem of a love?
why, yes, that’s a bloom
after a summer snowstorm
they both still love me
Ode to Toaster Oven
why yes, i bake things
(zucchini things in summer)
feels like Hell’s Kitchen
my oven burned me
burned us all with its heat spread
well, not anymore
that’s right, baby:
a 9×13 glass dish,
two 8-inch cake pans
this Breville will hold
a 12-inch cast iron pan
without burning us
worth every penny
(it’s not even Christmas yet)
boy am i ready
Trapped (Not Trapped)
sometimes i think: Hell.
twenty days of solid heat.
(Denver in summer)
and then i recall
our glorious altitude
and misty mornings
i will swim for views
only captured here at home
(Denver forever)
Friday Night Lights (x2)
what’s more beautiful—
this red, water-begging dawn
or my daughter’s grin?
each touched by showers
so desperate to soothe our souls
from this hellfire
August Coronatine Accomplishments
oldest in college
(concurrent enrollment win)
(can remove spiders)
youngest wants hair cut
just in time for her birthday
my new career–ha!)
Coronatine Revamped
Zoom meetings drain me
but how sweet these tomatoes
and basil, with love
Zucchini Has Friends
cucumbers are here!
and what better potatoes
than purple, from home?
Cool Down. Breathe.
these summer rainstorms
bring breezy joy to hot days
(save us from the drought)
my former student
once a refugee herself
now teaches me hope
making me these masks
so i can mouth English words
as when i taught her
Rainbow Roots
of little promise
this underdeveloped root
(thought i’d just get blooms)
but underground joy
arrives when you keep digging
to find the rainbow
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