I have a garden in Mosquito Creek
where I grow vegetables, cherries
berries, birds, chipmunks
rabbits, crickets
and old
while my neighbor wages war
on the terrorizing pests
if they were dreams
he says
ripe fruits would remain untouched
and the summer would be
spent in hammock
peacefully
so, he floods his lawn with pesticides
sets up traps and zappers
in the backyard
everything green is kept at gunpoint
and he wears a bulletproof smile
permanently


Published in Verse Afire, 2011, TOPS, Canada