Spring (Garden) Cleaning

before

A reading this morning made reference 

to St Francis of Assisi.

He stands in my back yard

and as I headed out later to pull weeds

and do some Spring garden cleaning,

I was newly aware of his watchful eye.

Some of the weeds had little flowers

and I have to say

it gave me pause to yank them out

and throw them on the pile

of dead leaves

and sticks—debris from winter snow.

And when, in my haste

to get the job done

I pulled a beautiful blue bell

sort of flower—not a weed

I found myself apologizing

after

Sorry, I didn’t mean to pull you out.

I kept glancing at that statue

my heart aware of

a jumble of mixed feelings…

The earth is God’s!

Who made the rule about neat gardens

and what makes up a weed?

Once again, an unexpected blessing.

A story of a saint who loved the earth

moved from my head to my heart

and as the chickadees and Carolina 

wrens serenaded me

I left some weeds behind.

-Nancy Perkins

4/26/14