Flutterings by the back door:
what might have been petals
lifted away in a scatter of colour.
I hadn’t thought he’d plant
particular species to attract
Peacocks, Cabbage Whites,
Red Admirals, Common Blues.
His butterfly enthusiasm
lasted a summer – although
the flowers returned each year
with their diligent attendants,
he moved on to migratory birds,
then slow-worms that seethed
through his compost heap.
Nature still surprised him –
the resilience of flora and fauna
while rocks the sea fretted at
smoothed and crumbled
or lumpish tar beached on shingle.
His garden was never tame:
it frayed into the wild.Image: Marina Shiderova; text: Tom Phillips
