Was the Face of the Earth vacant of other Plants, it might be gradually sowed and overspread with one Kind only; as, for Instance, with Fennel; and were it empty of other Inhabitants, it might in a few Ages be replenish'd from one Nation only; as, for Instance, with Englishmen.
— Benjamin Franklin
much as I like fennel, growing & eating it
I would rather sow trout lily, & if I were allowed
I’d sow bloodroot too, with trillium a close third
as for the one Nation only, I would never
breed a nation of men, better a nation of women
better yet a nation of honeybees, or monarch
butterflies, or northern long-eared or little brown
bats, gender nonspecific — last night I saw a bat
circle the house & land on the rickety chimney
soon to be disassembled, up the unmortared bricks
it crawled & over the rim, down there who knows
how many bats dwell? what if my chimney’s bats
so far are free from death-bearing fungus? am I
thereby obliged to maintain their residence?
who wouldn’t want bats in a house beside a lake?
five months remain before their forced relocation
my focus must be to devise their new home —
bat house, bat cave, otherwise uninhabited
geodesic dome — plus, I must boost the animal
species sowed on earth to include some foods
favored by bats, e.g., scorpions, spiders, mosquitoes
oh wait, remember? my own Nation will not survive
these bats will inherit my house, I’d best open
the chimney flue, welcome them in before I go
