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Pruning

To prune is to cut, a maim to the tree
It injures, severs appendages dear
Leave nature to take its course being free
Let growth live and let live, why interfere?
Neglecting to prune, my tree became ill
I casted the blame on crow, bee, and squirrel
Demurring and baulking, inaction still
Tough pruning became my garden deferral
Conflicting, nature has taught me to own
For fruit I must choose, away saw the branch
Go chisel the tree, as sculptor to stone
My pruning bore buds, not dreaded life stanch
A pruning removes the dead and the rot
We flourish with cuts, trees’ call not forgot.
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Megan Brand is an Assistant Professor at the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, where she teaches civics and researches international security, with a focus on migration and natural resources. She is the Founder of CamelGuard, a plant-based burp cloth line that encourages culture that is friendly to mothers and babies together. She received her PhD from Princeton University and has degrees from the University of Oxford, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and Arizona State University. An avid gardener, she is learning to cultivate in the Sonoran Desert, following a decade in the Garden State. Follow her garden on Instagram @brandmegan and her writings on Twitter @megancbrand.

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