Starting Sweet Peas

March. I'm downstairs noodling
with vermiculite, peat moss,
grow lamps, and planting cups,

getting everything ready to blast
toward Bloomland. Except
sweet peas--they need

more than the others. I wrap
their planting cups in a baggy
to keep moisture in. This is

the suburbs, not a rain forest.
They want to be treated
like royalty. OK, I'll do it,

because when sweet peas
do their lavender bump
behind my apricot-colored

medallion rose, how
royal they are, so
why not toss praise

at such blossoms? True,
I'm a little cheesed off
in this butler role,

checking the baggy,
checking the light,
always this checking,

but soon enough they'll be
outdoors wiggling regal
lavender butts as we bow.