Backyard Goddess

Confined within wooden fences

         and vinyl walls

I put on my spring-green gown

I flick the flecks of yellow

         in my skirt

And the jonquil down

         along the hem

My sash

         once forsythian gold

Is now just burnished green

Emerald necklaces

Will soon sprout

Pearls of pink and white

My evergreen crown

Tapers to the sky

Birds-

Starlings, wrens, doves,

Robins, jays, and the stately cardinal-

Flitter round my head

Finding seeds and worms and bugs

         galore

Squirrels and chipmunks scurry

         up and down

I shelter

And sustain

I nurture nature

I am nature

Hidden in the urban mist.