A cricket sat in the long grass
And watched
As the man on the mower came closer.

“My voice is so small,” said the cricket
“And I am so little. What can I do to change this man’s heart?”

She felt the hopelessness overwhelm her.

She looked around at her home
This garden that she loved.
And the beauty lit a spark in her heart
And the spark lit a fire in her throat
And she began to sing.

She sang a song of love:
A song of such passion and beauty
That all who heard it stopped what they were doing
And joined in.

And soon all the crickets, all the grasshoppers, the spiders,
the beetles, the bees, the leafhoppers
and even the ants were singing along.

And the sound swelled and soared above the grassy stalks
Above the poppy tops.

And the man stopped.

He stilled the engine, called his family to come, listen to the song of life:
The song of the garden.

And it whispered to their hearts of hope and summer sun
Of togetherness and friendship;
And they smiled.