Songs of the Garden

What’s wrong, 
handsome small farmer?
Heron stopping, 
pony stopping—
magic—



*



Healthy, educated maiden,
she would serve you a rough half-bushel—
cockle soup, a brew,
the water in which the puddings had been cooked



*



Remember, pilgrim: not the clothes, the road.

Pass between two hills’ breadth.

Put wind into the wish.



*



Mischance fall upon them who avoid the conflict:
the fork of their breeches
tied in a bundle



*



Manage cheerfully, 
two by two: 
cock and gander, 
dove and dragon.



*



Defied book-knowledge—
Taught the garden—



*



A compact: 
first, housewifely tasks; then,
much ale.
Credit

Copyright © 2019 Anna Lena Phillips Bell. This poem was originally published in Quarterly West. Used with permission of the author.

About this Poem

"'Songs of the Garden' is made of words and phrases transcribed from the footnotes of English and Scottish Ballads (Heinemann, 1957), a collection edited by Robert Graves. It is part of a brief manuscript titled Smaller Songs."
Anna Lena Phillips Bell