20160817 (answer)

Flatlands of Louisiana may have too much water but this summer's Ohio grass is finally green.

Recent rains have greened up the 

Brown grass of the neighborhood.

My back yard which had been 

Dormant for most of July has 

Responded to the waters of August

With vigorous, almost audible 

Growth. The weeds surrounding

Blitzer (the name Dinah gave her

Cast concrete wolf in the little

Druidic altar in front of the 

Stonehenge painted on the

Rear window of the garage and 

Behind the suggested circle of

Ancient pillars) are again almost

As high as a pachyderm’s eye.

I have twice pulled exuberant 

New weed growth from the 

Compost pile (indicates its

Fertility when it finally gets 

Churned into the sandy base

For the new owners’ gardens).

My practice with compost has

Been for over twenty years only

To keep piling on organic matter—

Green from summer grass, brown

From autumn leaves. My neighbor

From the Lee Road house (to 

Whom I gave permission in

Perpetuo to remove compost

From two areas of the Lee

Backyard), reports the stuff is

Better than GrowPup and seems

Inexhaustible, despite my never

Tediously turning it to get it 

In contact with fresh air nor 

Adding expensive worms nor

Ever measuring its PH and 

Adding appropriate chemicals.

Dumb luck to do what nature

Does—simply let it accumulate

And rot. And who do we thank 

For this recent fecundity—well,

God, of course—but in the more

Immediate events of the chain I’d

Lay this at the door of ExxonMobil

Whose carbon dioxide has so 

Warmed the earth as to enable 

The warmer air to hold (and then

Release) much larger volumes of

Water than in prior years. Wouldn’t

Be so bad if it wasn’t also the

Cause of those nasty floods on 

The Louisiana flatlands where

Droplets dumped in huge amounts 

Over short periods collect and 

Build rather than swiftly running

Off —killing twenty-two people

Before subsiding, making it to 

The Gulf, where it can mix with

The oil and thin it out just a

Smidge. I don’t need a fast-assed

Tesla to drive itself about in

High gear, slamming into 

Pedestrians and perambulators

Along the way. I‘d be pleased

As Pinocchio if they put an

Electric motor in my X-B

With an underside of batteries

I could charge every day

From the sunlight on my roof.

Occasional light rain would

Wash the panels clean. All

The old “gas” stations could

Service, wash, and wax our

Newly silent buggies.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016