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All Atangle Beside a Dusty Road

In praise of what is overlooked

Deborah Barchi
Scribe
2 min readAug 9, 2023

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Here there are no pruning shears,
no pretty pebbled paths,
no sundials or marble fountains.

Here there are no copper chimes,
no flagpoles,
no watering cans or hoses.

Here there are no prize winners,
no garden superstars,
no horticultural debutantes.

Here there is merely tenacious beauty,
resilience and fecundity,
unfettered and mostly overlooked.

Except by the bees map-making with intent,
and by the small birds perching and swaying,
and by the yellow butterflies batting their shapely wings.

And by those endowed with eager hearts,
open and grateful for every bit of beauty,
even when it grows all atangle beside a dusty road.

Summer is a time of sumptuous beauty in our gardens. But there is another, less cultivated but no less heart lifting beauty growing at the edges of woodland, upon the shores of rivers and lakes, or flourishing along the verges of country roads and even busy…

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Published in Scribe

Stories and poems that matter. Emotion first and foremost.

Deborah Barchi
Deborah Barchi

Written by Deborah Barchi

Deborah Barchi has recently retired from her career as a librarian and now has time to read, explore nature, and write poetry and essays.

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