*A poem by Cate Marvin; more on Marvin, and the revelations of divorce, below.
Mowing the lawn, it’s revealed, is not the torture
it once appeared as the loved one tore through
the yard in heated fury, sluicing beds of flowers
bent dangerously toward the sun and the blades.
The machine was somehow derelict, excused for
its tendency to runnel through precious plantings
due to a lapsed brake he could not repair, his face
in sun murderous blank behind the mirrored eye
sockets. Worse than a chore, a downright war.
To even consider mowing the lawn after seeing
the scathing regard of the sun’s acids run down
his smarting face as he spun the mower around
the yard, why, I figured it would be too hard. Now
that he’s gone, I thought I’d hire someone or forsake
the lawn entire, grow it out like a beard. Mike from
across the road comes over as usual with his advice:
change the oil, the filter, sharpen the blades. Mike
doesn’t want to open old wounds, but it’s been his
suspicion the grass couldn’t thrive because my ex
lowered the mower’s mouth inches above the roots,
scraping sun-hot soil, in an effort to mow less. It’s
not exactly interesting, I’ll admit. That’s why some
people drink while mowing, hoist tumblers of wine
as they sail their yards. It’s strange, how I’ve come
to thrive on the rumble of the rider mower, blades
lowered, love how it clears rough green into fresh
swaths. Flying between apple trees to slash through
hairy bridges of weed, I see Mike. I raise my glass.
*Cate Marvin is the author of the poetry collection ‘Event Horizon’, and is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cate_Marvin
I love this poem, largely because I have friends who have been shocked, stunned, enraged and more after learning – post-divorce – that what he contributed (mowing the lawn, shoveling the snow, trimming the hedges, hammering a few nails) really wasn’t all that much, taken as a whole. Compounding this realization is the experience of doing the mowing, the hammering, the hedge trimming etc. oneself. It’s revolutionary, and whaddayaknow, these ‘big, difficult chores’ are a whole helluva lot easier than cooking, shopping, laundering, scheduling, etc., etc. for 4 or 5 other humans day upon day upon day after day. #Truth
Another truth? I’m glad lawn mowing and weed whacking season is coming to a close…yay!