We planted asparagus last year as a feeble experiment
in designing an edible perennial garden.

You should wait to harvest the first asparagus
for at least three years after planting;

it needs all its energy as an infant
to become a sustainable living thing.

But I couldn’t resist the temptation
and cut three stalks when they first appeared;

I ate them raw right out of the ground;
their crunch lingering on my tongue, sweeter than candy.

When the next stalks started to grow, we caged them
with old tomato cages lying in the yard and left it alone.

I gave up on tomatoes this year—
on all gardening really;

we don’t get enough sun
and I don’t have much patience or discipline

Yet the abandoned asparagus towers above the grass,
with its fluttering fronds and ruby red balls

like ornaments on a Christmas tree,
promising gifts to come.