Vigilance

Rocks grow expensive
when they squat on good Iowa land
and furnish their corner with
blackberry vines, sumac and even a few
crabapple trees. What’s more, the woodchucks
dig under them and the whole brambly shambles
makes a mess in a clean, neat field.
Wilderness won’t pay taxes,
it costs money to run a farm and I can’t afford
the luxury of wildflowers where corn ought to grow.
So let’s dig this stuff out, and level the ground,
dammit, watch out for wild bees,
keep nature tame and in her place,
I don’t know how this patch got started,
you have to keep a lookout all the time.