Father Sky/Mother Earth

I am turning the irrigation water 
Into my garden 
It’s two in the afternoon 
The reddening tomatoes jerk up, widen their eyes
And peek over their shoulders at me 
The soil relaxes, rich and wet 

I have something to say: 

Today I join the flow 
To the corn and the peppers 
I am forty and I still bleed 
My children slosh the rushing water in the ditch
I straddle the rows in my skirt 
My toes mush the mud on the sides of the channel 

My hands on the shovel 
Begin to look like my own mother’s 
I streak the sweat from my forehead 
And mutter my claim on this garden 
These children 
This irrigation turn 

Just for a moment I hold the sky with a look 
Just for once I want to tell you 
What I have planted in 
My garden 
And my sons 
And my daughters