you raked the ground
said it was 'round
before the days of growing maze
and breaking soil

you planted seed
and pulled the ****
and pruned it back, a lumber jack
you loved to toil

you used your head
and bought a shed
had every tool and cleaned the pool
you had the goods

you took the time
to mess with lime
and fertilized, they'd be surprised
this once was woods

now gone the man
and gone his plan
and gone the hands that held the tools
and now I'm hurt

they took your trees
which lined the street
where walk and broken curbside meet
now grass and dirt

I'd made a pact
one tree intact
the one that you planted somewhere back
in ninty five

there with the rest  
our birds can nest  
how we were blessed, my daddy best
on Burton Drive.

those roots go deep
and how, I weep
the lives we've lived, our memories
and stuff we keep

the tools I find
you left behind
I'll tend your garden in my mind
in restful sleep.