Light in darkness

I can no longer kneel with ease, 

So my garden has grown tangled, 

A no man’s land of thistles and holly, 

Dying branches and invasive grasses, 

Nettles and Euphorbia — 

So many plants that sting when touched… 

When you, helping my neighbor 

Repair his fence, offered to help me, too, 

I wanted to cry, and now, 

Though we can barely communicate, 

I see you kneeling amid the thorns, 

 So carefully creating space 

 Around the roses, Oregon grape, and rhodies; 

See how you wipe the sweat from your brow 

And stroke the aging willow’s branch 

And smile, and say, the tree: 

The tree is beautiful, yes? 

A light in darkness; An answer to my prayer.