The Penny Garden

Buried flowers
hidden under box elder leaves
on pearlescent glass
near my castle stump
the shady place I played
when I was three.

Down in the moist earth
worms’ domain
Johnnie pop-ups, dandelions,
buttercups, wild violets,
purloined rose petals
from the neighbor’s garden
tender petals as ephemeral as my youth

For a penny you may see.