Build the Soil

I’ve been thinking of how to fix the earth.

The front yard of this house is only sand,

an acre of desert where nothing grows up.

Rain runs off, elopes with the foundation

of the earth of my birth,

a river that eats

from doorstep to driveway,

and I wonder how long

before it takes this house with it,

how long before it takes me with it,

how long before we are swept into the street.

Today, I read a book about compost,

about eggshells and nitrogen,

about humus, pine straw, rotifers,

how broken things decompose

to bind themselves back together,

how decay has a health in it,

a secret science of lignin and bacteria

to rebirth the earth of my birth.

The book tells me patience

is the earth-tender’s friend —

take the slow years

for redworms and food scraps

to grow the soil before you

grow the seeds of grass and flowers —

but the only patience I have

is reserved for my own molder.

Anyway, rich soil won’t help

without a way to keep it in place.

Landscape is just as important:

gird the property line with stone and log,

tuck the trees into their beds of mulch,

clear storm drain and ditch so maybe

the next downpour won’t drown me out.

Erosion control takes retaining walls

just as much as it takes healing.

The post Build the Soil appeared first on Gabriel Gadfly.