An Arid Land

 

I bought a plot of land to grow vegetables,

it was flat and without any weeds .

I drew a plan of what I would grow,

dividing it into seperate rows.

I bought four types of seeds to sow,

Justice, Compassion, Equality and Love,

all I knew to be popular and much sought after,

and a profitable return for my efforts.

I spent hours sowing the seeds,

and rested as the sun went down.

I bought a basic irrigation system,

which worked well enough.

Yet not one shoot did appear,

leaving me perplexed indeed.

I bought some fertiliser to encourage growth,

but to no avail as nothing appeared.

I was told that all were easy to grow,

popular and good for nutrition.

I waited and waited and all in vein.

There was to be no harvest,

I resigned myself to being a failed

Market Gardener.

A friend suggested I sent a sample of soil,

to be analysed, this I did.

The results possessed the answer to my woes,

agent orange and napalm had devasted the land.

It would be at least a century before it would be fertile again,

if ever.