Diluvian Dream

All afternoon I walk behind the mower, Imagining, though paradoxically, That even though the grass is getting lower, What I have cut is like a rising sea; The parts I haven’t cut, with every pass, Resemble real geography, a map, A shrinking island continent of grass Where shoreline vanishes with every lap. At last, the noise and smell of gasoline Dispel my dream. What sea? Peninsulas? They were the lands my inner child had seen, Their little Yucatáns and Floridas. But when I’m finished, and Yard goes back to Lawn, I can’t help thinking that a world is gone.