Quiet please! Kindly don’t impede my concentration,
I am sitting in the garden thinking thoughts of propagation,
Of sowing and of nurturing, the fruits my work will bear,
And the place won’t know what hit it...
Once I get up from my chair.
I’m at the planning stages now, if you should need to ask,
And if I’m looking weary, it’s the rigours of the task,
Creation of a garden is a strain, as you can guess,
So if my eyes should close, it isn’t sleep of course…
It’s stress.
Oh the leeks that I will dibble and the beans that I will stick,
The bugs that I will slaughter and the seedlings I will prick,
I’ll disinfect the greenhouse, I will organise the shed,
And beside my faded roses I will snip off every head.
The mower I will cherish and the tools that I will oil,
The dark nutritious compost I will stroke into the soil,
My sacrifice, devotion and heroic aftercare,
Will leave you green with envy…
Once I get up from my chair.
Oh the weeds that I shall mutilate, the clumps that I will split,
I’m foaming at the mouth just at the very thought of it,
I am heaving at the traces, I am tearing out my hair,
And you’ll see a ruddy hero...
Once I get up from my chair.
I will massacre the bindweed and the moss upon the lawn,
That hairy bittercress will curse the day that it was born,
I will rise against the foe and in the fight we will be matched,
And the woolly caterpillars they will curse the day they hatched.
Oh the branches I will layer and the cuttings I will take,
Let other fellows dig a pond – I shall dig a lake,
My garden, what a showpiece! There’ll be pilgrims come to stare,
And I’ll bow, and take the credit…
Once I get up from my chair.
Copyright Pam Ayres
From The Works
Some of Pam’s works
Poetry collections
The Works
Surgically Enhanced
With These Hands
Audio CDs and cassettes
The Broken Woman
Ancient & Modern
The Pam Ayres Poetry Collection
DVD
Unsupported
In her Words
Reviews
Lovely words that just roll rhythmically along, true sentiments that we all have magnificent plans once we drag ourselves into action. Thanks Pam, I've enjoyed your works and words for a long time, and will continue to do so while ever you write so amusingly
What a lovely poem! Deceptively weightless, yet truth and humour in every line. Thank you Pam.
I have always LOVED Pam's poems, but this one ...... WONDERFUL, HILARIOUS, so funny (and true for so many people!). I love poetry that rhymes!
Just found bookbite for the first time. Now i can't get off my desk chair, it is so good. Loved the poem, I too have a garden waiting for attention once i get off this chair
Another brilliant poem from Pam Ayres! I certainly wish I could write poetry as well as Pam does. She certainly appears to capture every would be gardener's enthusiasm as they plan the task ahead... once they get out of their chair! Great.
