In an effort to civilize Nature,

I, one twilit dusky day,

with the aid of pruners and the family’s black dog,

set off through the prairie;

through the blossoming grasses of the prairie,

toward my childhood destination:

the tree fort.

 

There, surrounded by the trees,

the grape-vine–entwined trees,

I trampled the weeds

and pruned back the vines until

I could stand no more;

for the biting gray insects,

the bloodthirsty insects, had won.

They were more diligent than I.

 

In an effort to civilize Nature,

I, one twilit dusky day,

set off back through the prairie,

through the blossoming grasses of the prairie,

through the droning bees’ noise of the prairie;

and, pausing a moment here and there,

I gathered a bouquet:

To take Nature again into Civilization.