Thoughts In A Garden

Why, where erstwhile I sowed my choicest seeds, Come up but weeds? Why do large docks Appear where should be stocks And phlox? Why flaunts the dandelions brazen face In zinnia’s place? What makes the groundsel flourish In patches which should nourish The useful parsnip and the onion mild? Why does the thistle (child By rights of Caledonia stern and wild) Invade the peaceful South? Why do all these defy Both frost and drouth When dahlias die? Why does the buttercup Incessantly come up, And things like salvias perish at a touch But not the scutch? Alas! What boots it with incessant care To importune thus the air? Full well I know I’ll rout These growths detested out With toil and pain - And next week with a hoe I’ll do it again!