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All Atangle Beside a Dusty Road
In praise of what is overlooked
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…