My wife uses little bronze plaques on stilts
to mark her plantings. Iris. Purple coneflower.
Broccolini. Onion, radish, lettuce, dahlia.

Cities use big bronze plaques on poles
to mark significant locations & events.
Old Water Street. Florence Crittenden Home.
Original home of Lexington Public Library.

Communities would be much more interesting
If we each got our own plaque on a stick design
to highlight our lives.
“In this driveway in 2002 Bernie crunched the spare
tire on a Honda CRV with a Ford Escort while thinking up a title”
“On this dogwood for 14 years Biscuit the terrier
peed nightly, even after he was blind.”
“This wicker chair is named ‘lost in thought’ and
has spawned over 80 poems”

Signs that denote who we are
instead of cataloging nameless
history.