Weeds Poem by Juan Olivarez

The house is empty now
Maria lived there.
Now weeds grow waist high
In the yard
And around the porch.

There's holes in the floor boards now
Of the porch
And weeds grow through them.
Only the old calico cat sits
On the porch now.

She occasionally pounces into the weeds
Returning with dinner
In her mouth.

Only weeds around Maria's house now
Except for the cactus

Growing on the roof
No, I don't know how.

The hackberry along the fence
Dried up years ago
And brittle branches
Lie all around the trunk.

Paint perpetually falls off the house
Falling on the weeds.
Only weeds everywhere.

The natural order of things
Nature's concept of beauty
Does not coincide
With man's.


Juan Olivarez 06/10/19
Alton Texas