Weeds

Weeds Lorna Goodison (bio) And how can I, daughter of a woman who expressed a wish for common buttercups to flourish on her front lawn pull up a season of weeds from this yard without regret? This one is so lovely I say; it stands slender on a stalk and shoots yellow comets. At its feet there is a leaf doily or a cut-work skirt stepped out of, can we just leave it? Daughter of a man whose mother lost her land; you are in danger of forgetting that in creation there are no weeds, only growing things temporarily occupying places like this plot now designated for vegetables now that weed's lease is up. Lorna Goodison Lorna Goodison, a native of Jamaica, teaches in the Department of English at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). She is author of books of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction prose, including From Harvey River, Traveling Mercies, Controlling the Silver, and Baby Mother and the King of Swords. She has been awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize and the Musgrave Gold Medal from Jamaica for her work. Copyright © 2007 Charles H. Rowell

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