Digging Revisited

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I’ll dig with it.

- Seamus Heaney

You see, I tried this and it doesn’t work.

The effort it takes to make an adequate hole

just isn’t worth it. It did diddly squat.

I got mud under my fingernails

and into the clicking mechanism of the biro.

The soil clogged it up.

What’s more, the plants remain unplanted.

I spent all day digging with this stupid pen 

and now the garden’s just a mess. 

Let’s do things properly. Let’s get to work. 

Give me that spade. 

I’ll write a poem with it.

Joshua Seigal