Spring has many oracles, but topiary
Uproots by increments all rigid prediction
Through tightened eloquence and loosened diction
That still proclaims the rhombus of a dromedary.
Spectacles bloom behind the eyes and glass;
Take glasses’ frames and wooden frames away and
What is left? A bare display of claypan;
But heated rumors rustle and amass
From sheaves and shocks,
While knife-edged blinds are raised in
Plots and plantings gravid and englazened.
Do cold frames crush the passionate into prosaic?
Freedom and captivity might be analogous…
But leave that flaw to vines’ arboreal valgus;
Here walls embrace, and floors leaf out mosaic.
Claypan – Hard compacted soil consisting mainly of clay.
Shocks – A play on two meanings of “shock”: 1) a sheaf of grain stacked upright in the field for drying; and 2) a sudden violent shake or disturbance.
Plots – A play on two meanings of “plot”: 1) a small area of planted ground; and 2) a secret evil plan.
Englazened – Enclosed in glass.
Cold Frame – A glass- or plastic-covered frame without artificial heat used to protect plants and seedlings.
Valgus – A deformity in which a limb is turned abnormally outward or inward.