Bless the plow, metal tines
rousing drowsy soil, clover and fescue
surrendering to twist and spin.
Bless the one who walks behind,
strongarms each rotation,
sweat-wipes a brow.
Bless the rake currying clods,
the hoe carving cozy furrows,
seeds cradled, tucked,
patted and cooed.
Bless the breeze, its reviving
tingles, pods and petals
whirligiging the thermals.
Bless thunder’s raucous rumbles,
rain’s thrum-song lullaby,
that primal tip and tap
birthing wondrous alchemies.
Bless the sun’s incubation,
the moon’s soulful woo.
Bless the pollinators and lady bugs,
forgive the slugs and tenacious beetles.
Bless the harvests—the lemon balm
and basil broadcasting their tang,
heart-shaped leaves
laced in morning dew.
All is Well with the Garden
KARI GUNTER-SEYMOUR is the Poet Laureate of Ohio and an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. She is an artist in residence for the Writing the Land Project, a Pillars of Prosperity Fellow for the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, and the founder/executive director of the Women of Appalachia Project and editor of its anthology series “Women Speak.” Her anthology “I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing: Ohio’s Appalachian Voices” received a “Book of the Year Award” from the American Book Fest. Her work has been featured in Verse Daily, World Literature Today, The New York Times and Poem-a-Day.