Garden

Beyond this window
thick vines snake
around a porch.

They wrap the peeling
posts and planking in green
and when the sun shines
through these panes,
the leaves dance,
tossing lively shadows
that flick across the carpet.

Lately I have been thinking
this prolific growth is not
as beautiful in any
light.

You see, I planted
a garden just before
the spring. Yes there
were flowers, crimson
and gold carnations
that I tenderly placed
in pots of mulch, watered
and fertilized and told
to grow.

For a while they prospered
and my porch was crowded
with color and life.

But then the vines
came and choked off
the sunlight, eclipsed the porch
in shadow and now
my garden, my carefully
cultivated garden,
is withering
no matter how often
I water.