Edging The Grass

By John I. Blair

Today I’ll drag my edger out,
Unreel the hundred-foot extension cord,
Plug it in and set to work—
An act that shouts the folly
Yardwork can entail.

I’ve spent hours and many bucks
To water, weed, and fertilize my lawn;
And it’s responded well,
Surging over the sidewalk,
Covering the concrete,
Fulfilling Sandburg’s prophecy
“I am the grass; I cover all.”

So now I brutally whack it back.

There is no adequate rationale
For this behavior.
Some Englishman perhaps,
Drunk on gaming, first took thought<
To pit his turf and pavement
One against the other.
No sensible Frenchman would.
Mediterranean folk generally
Border homes with stone’s rigor.
Chinese use bricks; Japanese like gravel.

But we Americans
Think setting up a tension
Between concrete and grass,
Then saying “Thou shalt not pass,”
Defines a yardman’s skill.

Is it really all about
Beautifying the premises;
Or is it a slightly sublimated try
To defy Nature, to hold back wilderness,
To declare who is the master here?

©2003 John I. Blair