Sandra Chaplain Bailey

Excerpt from Anthology Vol 1, No 1

Who's In Your Yard?

Relatives are
a mixed bag of seed
the produce is free
but you don’t get to choose
what has already
been planted

Most are
ordinary blossoms
magnificent in their simple strengths
sturdy and giving
of their gardens

Others may be flashy blooms
but all show and no perfume
not ones to count on for lasting bouquet

Some are
irritating ragweeds
you know you’re allergic
to them
but they’re unavoidable
at certain times of the year

Still, you’d like to sneeze them
right out
of the family tree

A few are
soft as lamb’s ears on your cheek
sweet and gentle
and comforting as a breeze
they are tucked away
in the sunniest plot
of your heart for frequent visits

And isn’t there always one
who was crossed
with crabgrass
who pinches feelings
and runs roughshod
over the family yard?

But you are lucky,
if once in a while
you find a sage
who lovingly tends the bower
pruning with tenderness
fertilizing with humor
digging integrity deep
into the roots
producing a strain
to be proud of
just remember…
it’s all relative

Author Bio
Sandra is a native New Orleanian, has lived in Seattle and loved the Pacific Northwest since 1971. She began writing poetry in 1995 as a way of healing following a double radical mastectomy. Always passionate about the written and spoken word, she feels she has found a home in poetry. Her work has appeared in SNOWFIRE, MILEPOST, AND STILL RUNNING, STILL HOT, among other anthologies published by Austen Press, Seattle.