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The weekly prompt from my Florida writers’ group was “the lawn”, and this is my response. An additional challenge was to tell a story with a twist.

My daddy complained each time that it rained,
Soaking into our green, front lawn.
“The rain makes grass grow!” he’d curse, soft and low,
Wishing it just would be gone.
But when the sun came, it also got blame
For helping the grass to grow.
For that always meant my daddy got sent
Outside in the heat to mow.

He had a lawnmower with which he would lower
The height of each blade of grass,
But it took him hours, avoiding Mum’s flowers,
Or she would hand him his ass!
He’d curse and he’d moan, a tad overblown,
Back and forth across the lawn,
Cutting the grass down, his face in a frown,
Until at last he was done.

But then one sad day, he looked o’er my way,
Saw me lounging by the pool.
“It’s ‘bout time we shared this job,” he declared.
“You’re makin’ me look the fool!”
I wasn’t impressed at ending my rest
To take over his irksome task,
But I gave it a go if only to show
All he had to do was ask.

But Daddy was quick once I took a lick,
And soon the job was all mine!
I sweated and toiled while Daddy, well-oiled,
Got a tan in the warm sunshine.
And now it was him who went for a swim
While I pushed that mower hard,
Cursed the rain and sun, just like he had done,
For growing grass in our yard.

But now, I don’t mow the lawn when it grows,
I just let it go to seed.
And nobody’s there to utter a care
That everywhere there’s a weed!
I’m back by the pool, and everything’s cool,
For at long last, Daddy’s gone
To his final rest…and have you already guessed?
I buried him under the lawn!