The Gift for Love

Underbrush, grasses, weeds,
wildflowers, aspen trees
cluttered the glade
where the cottage stood.
Armed with an ax and scythe
I taught our slovenly acre
a few parklike manners.

I chopped and mowed,
sweat and swore,
a rabbit leaped away,
birds stopped singing,
a doe fled into shadows,
I shaped a neat estate
where paths ran to order
and domestic flowers
bloomed on schedule.

I made you a gift of the deed
but you turned back with a cry
and fled deep into your
heart’s wilderness.