Happy holiday wishes from an Orcas Garden Club poet

||| FROM ORCAS GARDEN CLUB |||

‘Twas December on Orcas, when all through the isle

Not a green thing was growing, or would be for a while

The gardening catalogs were marked up with care

so past the last frost date new plants would be there.

The stalks and the seed pods hovered over their beds

while visions of springtime dance in our heads. 

And mom in coveralls and I in my wellies

harvested the last of the produce to fill hungry bellies. 

When out on the treeline rose such a clatter

I sprang from the table to see what was the matter. 

Away to the window like an eagle I flew—

And what I saw then made me feel mighty blue. 

A seventy-foot fir had roots loosened by rain

It fell on the woodpile and then split again

When what to my wondering eyes did appear

but my neighbor with chainsaw and four black tailed deer!

With a yank of the starter cord, the saw came alive

and frightened deer fled just like bees from a hive. 

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And cut me a woodpile; then turned with a jerk,

After we chatted and sipped some hot tea

Discussing the greatness on Orcas for gardeners like me

With a climate that’s perfect for many a crop

At some point soon, this poem has to stop—

So I will exclaim for all Orcas to hear

Happy holidays and gardening for all of the year!