'I give much away'

''My wife and I now have way too much

of all of this {vegetables and fruit}. Our children are gone.

Pets, large and small, which used to consume the extra

have long since died. I squeeze, can, freeze,

dry. My grandmother had jars of raspberries

dated a decade old, and I may soon match

that mark with many supplies.

I give much away; will have to give more,

to extended family, neighbors, food banks.

I could join the farmer's market

but don't like meeting new people.

My legacy may consist of refuse.''

The late Leland Kinsey, from his poem "Double Digging the Garden''

He was often called the poet laureate of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.