the villain stands before the
hussy on the porch his feet on the wood
her brass bell atop the screen
—
it is time to decimate the zinnias
she announces
—
my lady this order is pathetic
the garden a senile plot silly
older than even this manufactured
farmhouse your brave father’s labor
a terrific battle was fought under
meteoric skies bully men’s
bones feed the flowers
—
and what is it to you?
every spring we build the bonfire to cull
the garden make egregious earth wet stalks
and grass fizzle in Hephaestus’s breath
—
his hoary head turns awk-
ward the garden. she wonders if
he sees the woods instead
—
though more she has to say
the war is fantastic a story told
to make the farm awful
to naughty men like you villains
who stand barefoot

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Richard Taylor is a poet and visual artist who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. After three advanced degrees, and a stint teaching at MIT, he still believes that poetry is the most compelling tool we have to understand the universe.