The first time 
I told the story 
“The Garden That
Ate The House”
the kids dropped 
their requests for
lions and wolves, 
they only wanted 
more of the couple who
tended the garden
next to their house
for years & years until they 
they got old and had to
move away. The family
that bought the place
went for three weeks 
to the Grand Canyon;
when they got back
they couldn’t find 
their house. It all
looked like a jungle:
Roman tomatoes 
in the mailbox, tool
shed full of artichoke,
the garden path clogged
with sweet potato vine,
mulberry tree fallen 
on the roof. The kids
had to hack their way
through and crawl 
into the kitchen window
where vines of wild grape
and Indian squash grew.
They didn’t even have 
to go out for dinner…