In the front garden

by Andrea Tillmanns

Native flowering plants and grasses, sometimes trembling from wild bees landing, butterflies taking off or field crickets jumping, always too fast for a photo. “This garden urgently needs a mowing,” says one of the women walking past with a disapproving look at our front garden, just loud enough for me to hear, and points to the burnt, short-cropped lawn next door. “That’s how it should be. That looks proper.” She still looks disapproving as the two of them seek shelter from the burning sun for a while in the shade of our old apple tree. “Really, always these weeds...”

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Andrea Tillmanns lives in Germany and works full-time as a university lecturer. She has been writing poetry, short stories and novels in various genres for many years. Her poems and stories have been published in diverse journals and anthologies. More information can be found on her website.