The Tall Girls

 The tall girls grow much of the summer 

Swaying and waving in gossipy green rows.

They start small, then stretch, strengthen

And soon begin to nod at one another

Perhaps agreeing that the gardener 

Ought not be so dilatory about weeding 

Between their feet, buried in the soil.

The tall girls twist and turn

Scribing solar paths above the garden.

Then one morning a yellow ray appears,

A petal flung out to greet the dawn

Now becomes full throated 

A yellow yawn, a ruffled shout.

The tall girls salute the sun

And are serenaded by honey bees.

Soon the tall girls bow to the

Weight of their own fertility. 

The tall girls become stiff and brown

In late summer and fall and

Then their feathered friends feast

And gossip among the limp leaves.