Eight Long Months

Eight long months with nothing showing
With not one coming, and in the swelter nothing growing
July's heat brought us to our knees
But we're still crawling
When the Spring came with rain,
it came all at once in a down pour
And the hail came with,
with all its knives & its fists and left our garden sore
Their heads looked down
& their backs bent over like orphans
And I wondered if what I planted in the ground
had any chance of becoming what I'm hoping
Nine long months — we just returned from a wedding
Things like these make me think of where we're heading
The heart's trapeze has no comfort of the netting
But the tears that are shed in a drought
are more precious for the letting
And the Fall came gentle
and the blossoms that were wrinkled began to open
And the August that had pressed on us so hard
September had broken
So prune it off — we'll see
Or pull them up if no fruit is setting
Because the Fall is here
and because the garden'd be fairer for replanting
December comes — and a baby is awakened
And frost may fall, but our hope wasn't taken
And the summer earth was dormant
But the winter fruit is persevering