April Chores
When I take the chilly tools
from the shed’s darkness, I come
out to a world made new
by heat and light.
The snake basks and dozes
on a large flat stone.
It reared and scolded me
for raking too close to the
hole.
Like a mad red brain
the involute rhubarb leaf
thinks its way up
through loam.
Jane Kenyon
Kenyon, Jane. “April Chores.” Otherwise:
New and Selected Poems. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Greywolf Press, 1996. p.139.
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| Common garter snake - Thamnophis sirtails |
