First Garden - Sept. 1, 2024

seven years old

seed packet torn and

sprinkled on a crust of clay

between crowded bushes

two cups of water every dawn

one day  a hundred praying

seedlings like miniature monks

rose and opened hands to the sky

two months later I harvested

one green pepper  strawberry-sized

and cut into tiny pieces

for our evening salad

using only one tine of the fork

to spear one at a time they were

eaten only with front-teeth bites

and each one tasted like

all those summer gardens

yet to come