In the Spring Time

Into my garden,
In the Spring time, the pretty song time,
My darling comes to me,
"Can I have the car keys and some money?
My friends'n I're off to the movies."
I listen a moment to a Phoebe sing,
In the Spring time, the pretty rhyme time,
"And your AP Calc test tomorrow?"
"I'm so on it."
Which means and doesn't mean a thing.

In my garden,
In the Spring time, the pretty rhyme time,
Birds sing in the trees.
With the beans up, so hopeful and so green,
And white flowers on the peas,
It's hard to imagine
Summer drought and weeds.
Best, the only bugs now, mosquitoes,
Have no taste for leaves.
I give her the cash and the keys.

In my garden,
In the Winter time, the merry December time,
My cell rings out for me,
"I've spent too much on books and things,
More money in my account, please."
A frozen rot of tomato vines
Lies tangled in the breeze.
I don't ask about classes and school,
Not being such a complete fool,
I've heard, "Oh fine," way too many times.

In my garden,
In the Winter time, the merry December time,
I whisper into my phone
(The connection now safely broken),
"I've known the joys of creation -
The times when code flowed like fire
When enthusiasm filled the air,
When the product seemed fresh
And oh so sure to catch on;
And I remember that hospital morning
When I first saw your face,
Red and wizened and strange,
You looked so oddly like my grandmother,
I felt and feel such fear
That nothing can ever ease or erase."

In my garden,
In the Winter time, the merry December time,
All my loves are leaving,
All my joys second hand,
And all my Springs imagined.
I get back to raking leaves.