At first it looked like a grave
a patch of dirt
with a single red flower
in the middle of your lawn
but lately it has become
a rectangular meadow,
and I see cosmos
(Sensation and Bright Lights)
poppies (the little kind,
not the ones that are like
small dogs)
larkspur or bachelor’s button
something blue
and a drift of white
which I would say is
Queen Anne’s lace, but
no one plants that on purpose.

Did you send off for
the packet of wildflower seeds
from Cheerios?
Some people said that was
ill-advised, greenwashing,
and that a California poppy
growing in Illinois
is not really a wildflower.

But then, I’m an interloper, too;
your meadow cheers me
from the middle of your lawn,
and I think of you
uprooting a patch of grass,
wondering what would happen,

I know this:
It’s an act of courage
every time you plant seeds
to attract bees.