RSportfolioPOETRYYardwork
by Stephanie Liang
Runestone, Volume 1 

 Yardwork

The overgrown weeds
                                         and wilting wisteria 
Defy the winter
                              by daring not to die—
Their seedlings spread,
                                             spring, into a mess.
Our nosy neighbors,
                                        noticing the eyesore,
Go back to minding their manicured
                                                                     lawns of majestic,
Year-round, golf-course
                                              grandiose greens.  
Our scorched land of
                                         sighing sprouts:
A burden to the serenity
                                              of the budding backyards
Of houses filled
                               with families and fathers 
With lawnmowers, a love
                                                for lawn care
That I never learned.
                                         Leaving the languishing 
Grass to weather
                                 the wintry winds
(A worry that weighs
                                        on my weary shoulders).
As I shut the window
                                        to shelter secondhand 
Thoughts of trimming 
                                           the tree branches,
Tidying the belligerent
                                            bushes to beautification, 
And your cold hands, 
                                          half-holding mine,
As the machine slows,
                                           simmers to a stop.
The grass germinates,
                                           but as a different green
To prove perhaps,
                                    without your presence
We’ll never be 
                            bothered by the weeds.

 

Stephanie Liang

University of Pittsburgh

Stephanie Liang is a rising junior at the University of Pittsburgh studying English literature and economics. She has loved poetry from a young age and is just starting to share her work with the world. She is excited to see her first two works published in Runestone Journal and another one of her pieces will be appearing in Rainy Day Magazine in the upcoming year. 

 

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