after Spider Queen by Préfète Duffaut

I remember falling in love with you
one afternoon in late summer
the sun high overhead
a catbird mewing from the blueberries

I stood knee deep in flowers
zinnias in shades from hot pink to red
stretching in straight lines between
rows of tomatoes, beans and cabbage

I filled five ice cream pails with beautiful blooms
went back for baskets of tomatoes, a bucket of beans
besotted by your glorious gifts

This was not our first flirtation

Drawn to your generous nature,
I have hiked your winding trails
climbing to the top of rocky overhangs
enamored with the view

I love you for your resilience, the hope you share
that tiny egg stuck to the underside of a milkweed leaf
a dew-kissed web spun between two coneflowers

Dependent on your stalwart trees for air to breath
I stand tall in stewardship beside them
Wanting to be a worthy partner in all things, dear Earth,
I give you my heart

Judge’s Comment:
”In ‘Dear Earth’ we stand with the poet ‘knee deep in flowers’ and fall in love with the earth, too, sharing in the writer’s love letter that also reads like a prayer.”