I once married soil   
And was happy  

Soil fed me sweet carrots
And lemon balm tea  

Let me walk its fuzzy
Green back in bare feet  

Soil’s friends serenaded us
On frisky summer nights  

Even beneath snow and ice
Soil remained faithful  

But I left soil
For asphalt and parades  

Was I sorry?
Did I fall out of love?  

Yes
And No  

Soil is with me always
No matter the manicures  

I can’t get soil
From under my fingernails  

It smudges my dreams
Invades my waking poems  

With pine cone fever
And hummingbird throats  

Sirens that sound
Like whippoorwills  

Soil plants words in my way
And watches sentences grow  

It’s the remembered language
My fingers whisper in the dark