If You Do, Make It Look Like An Accident

This evening I spent two minutes in the garden. Snipping some herbs for dinner, a little deadheading. I noticed, a bit late, that someone had clipped the flowering tops of my large solidago. A nice, clean cut -on the bias. Fool me little, or just try -break the stems, leave a ball in the garden, I don't know -a branch? Something. I wouldn't normally care, neighbors clip all the time -but usually those with many flowers.

Two weeks ago I wrapped the corner and I startled a woman caught in the act of snipping flowers off my neighbor's plants. The grin was one of shame, but she couldn't break herself away from the act. She finished picking that last one before moving on. Desire.