Kate Deimling
Laura Anne Stephenson
People saw me as the lady
who was crazy for gardening.
My Victorian house on the corner
with gingerbread trim
had a big lot for hydrangeas, roses, lilacs.
Yes, it was a thing of beauty
and I was proud
but they couldn't know
how I'd reach deep into the ground
to grasp weeds by the roots
pulling them like the wildness
I had to wrest over and over
from my own heart.
Bio
Kate Deimling is working on a series of poems called "Shades" about the dead residents of a fictional town. Her poetry has appeared in Slant, Tar River Poetry, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Shot Glass Journal, Sheila-Na-Gig, and elsewhere. She lives in Brooklyn and is associate poetry editor for Bracken magazine. Find her online at www.katedeimling.com.