The Buddha Rat

August 3rd, 1995, 1740 Alpha Court
—Cirrelda Snider-Bryan

Picking goat head seedlings from my sister’s new lawn
front of her rented house in Rio Rancho.
It was full of goat heads dried last January when
they moved in—every shoe had at least two or three
going barefoot in their yard was torture.
Kendra’s invention for the Science Fair was a bottle cap shoe scraper for by the back sliding door.

Here the little lawn she seeded with 6-year old seed is shaded by the
lone ponderosa pine—only one in sight—
you can feel the miles north and west—under twenty—
to the many mesas filled with cousin trees—those high
table lands that are receiving that rain cloud right now.

Backyard in the middle of sand-dirt expanse the vegetable garden she planted from seed:
corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, green beans (never has been a lawn back here)
the goat head plants are thick & producing fat goat heads.
She needs to have us over for steak dinner & beer—
we’ll help get those out of the garden.
8-3-95