I Keep Spending Money on Perennials

A poem

I keep spending money
on perennials
which feels foolish and wasteful
in these days of war
and flood
and division
and turmoil.

But I can’t stop bombs
from falling in the Middle East
or flood waters from rising
in Appalachia.
I can’t make everyone vote
for a more loving and just society.

I have learned that the limits
of my capacity
are far smaller
than the bounds
of my awareness.

So I support my local nursery
and gather purple coneflowers,
bright goldenrod, white phlox,
pink aster.

I imagine a more beautiful world
starting with this tiny plot
in my backyard.

I plunge my fingers
into the brown moist soil
rather than keyboard warring on social media.

I set these plants in earth
as flags of hope
that despite fire and flood
spring will come again,
blossoms will open
and bees and butterflies
will return to rest
upon their bright new faces.