Any gardener can tell you
that weeds are windborn or they
come in hiding
with the plants you bring from nurseries.
Any gardener will tell you
that the walls are not for weeds
but to divide
what’s yours from mine.
Any gardener will say
that your growth will not be better
if your neighbor’s garden
is neglected.
Any gardener can teach us
how best to think
about the borders.
Why don’t we?
Country Garden with Sunflowers by Gustav Klimt
Grace hosts Poetics tonight at dVerse and want us to write about borders- Borders in any way are welcome when the Pub opens at 3PM EST. See you all.
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August 21, 2017
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Very nice.
Beautiful thought ..
Excellent question!
Beautiful in its simplicity…
Really well thought out, Bjorn. For us, fences important to keep the dogs in!
I love the simplicity of your message Bjorn ~ We can take tips from the gardener ~
Flower borders! I love this Bjorn and you’ve illustrated the poem with a Klimt painting – my absolute favourite!
Like this ~ the gardener grasping the natural world and passing it on to us. It has a lot to teach us!! Like the capture here nicely enforced with repeat starts of the verses.
I liked the repetition too…cats are funny though they are like the weeds they don’t find the hedges, fences or walls an obstacle. Perhaps they don’t have borders. maybe they have zones of familiarity instead.
The walls won’t stop the weeds as you mention. A survey line is a kind of invisible wall that can possibly be invoked to settle disputes. It can’t stop the weeds either.
Excellent metaphors that border on brilliant, brother. Any gardner would know that open free spaces are where gardens thrive, even though city dwellers use milk cans and window boxes–a handful of dirt, a couple of seeds & a green thumb to create ersatz facsimiles.
Nice job Bjorn! We always had a huge fence around our big garden and trained the cucumbers, beans, and grapes to run on the fences. That was mainly our reason. They didn’t keep any of the critters out! Just like I use a small fence around my garden now. It certainly isn’t to keep any of the critters out. They come and go and snack.
How true and wise these lines are Bjorn…perfect for the prompt and the poet and gardeners heart!
I love the subtlety of your metaphor and how each stanza unpacks a different facet of your premise. Fantastic!
I love the word ‘windborn’ here, and the weeds being ‘in hiding’. Enjoyed the connection between gardening/borders as well.
A simple and beautiful write, and a great question!
Simple wisdom – I love this.
Your 3rd stanza is a lovely flip on the idea of the “grass is greener on the other side”
Hear, hear!
“Any gardener can teach us
how best to think
about the borders.
Why don’t we?”
Thought-provoking and cleverly constructed.
Wonderful wisdom in your poem, Bjorn. Great response to the prompt.
Love the repetition and the message here.
Amen! Amen
finger too quick on the return….should be another explanation after the second amen. And yes — I love the repetition you’ve used as well. Gardeners often offer good lessons….:) Great metaphorical message here.