Calling the Wild

Photo: bumblebee on pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata).

Little bee, little bee,

Come back and visit me.

The garden is flowing with

Flowers I planted thee.

Little bird, little bird,

So long since your song I've heard.

Trees are now ready to

Keep your nest covered.

Butterfly, butterfly,

Dragonfly, firefly,

Turtles and toads,

Please don't say your last goodbye.

- Lana Dion

10/5/22

Behind the poem

Everyone needs a home, but with the way housing developers obliterate everything from large amounts of land during the building process, it's up to the future residents to rebuild habitat and provide homes for wildlife again.

This was also partly inspired by a friend's young daughter, who loved the tiniest flowers in my garden: the frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora), water pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata), horseherb (Calyptocarpus vialis), and zexmenia (Wedelia acapulcensis). I told her about how the tiny bees and butterflies like them. There's also a nod to The Secret Garden, which I had somewhat recently read for the first time. That was also about bringing a garden back to life, and there were lots of "thees" from Dickon. =)