Begin with the earth: rich open compost,
Add well-rotted manure, full of minerals.
Round-up the ancestor’s tools: Gran’s floral fork
and Dad’s metal trowel; lay them on an altar of green.
Listen to a playlist of birdsong on shuffle;
trills as you drill straight rows of well-positioned holes.
Lift the packet of Early Perfection and tear off
the corner with your teeth, dispense into a cupped palm.
Drop individual peas into each furrowed crib
and rake over a crocheted blanket of loam.
Take permanent marker to lollypop sticks
to remind you what has been sown and where.
Ensure that the watering can is fitted with a fine rose;
anoint the earth, while praying for warmer nights.
Gaynor Kane is a Northern Irish poet from Belfast and is published by the Hedgehog Poetry Press. Gaynor has curated events for, and performed at, several literary festivals. Recently, she was a judge for The North Carolina Poetry Society and guest sub-editor for the inaugural issue of The Storms Journal. Her latest chapbook, Eight Types of Love, was released in July 2022.