~~~~
~~~ ~~~
=~ ~=
,~~=†%## ,,,,,,,,,,,, = = ,,,,,,,,,,,, ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## =~ ~= ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†### ~~~ ~~~ ####&†=~~,
,~~=†### ~~~~ ####&†=~~,
,,,,,,~~†& &†~~,,,,,,
,~~~~=%& The River That'S Our River Makes A #&&%=~~~~,
,~~=†††† Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A #&††††=~~,
,,,,,~~†%# Decent Days Travel North From That #%†~~,,,,,
,~~=†%## Stands Our House In The Middle Of A ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†††& Forgotten Apple Orchard. Our House Is #&&†††=~~,
,~~=†%## Built Of Dark Clay And Abandoned By A ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%&& Stranger. The Window Has No Glass But #&&&%†=~~,
,,,~==†††& Instead Steel Bars To Keep The Animals &†††==~,,,
,,,~~~†%&& Out. &&%†~~~,,,
,,,,,,~†&& &&†~,,,,,,
,,,,~~=% Around The House Is A Thick, Thick #&%=~~,,,,
,,,~~††%%# Brush Of Ferns And Bushes. There Live #%%††~~,,,
,~~=†%## The Animals That We Fight To Keep Away, ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## For They Speak To Us To Join Them In ###&%†=~~,
,,,,,~=††& The Luscious Caves Below Ground. They &††=~,,,,,
,~~=†%## Mean No Harm But It Is Not In Our Best ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Interest To Do So. There Is Important ###&%†=~~,
,,~~~~=††& Work That Needs To Be Done, And It Cant &††=~~~~,,
,,,,~†%# Be Done By Animals. (Father Says This.) ##&%†~,,,,
,,,,~==††& &††==~,,,,
,~~=†%## Every Morning Our Father Clears The ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Ferns And Uproots The Bushes Only For ###&%†=~~,
,,,,,~~=%& Them To Grow Back Each Night. Their &%=~~,,,,,
,,,~~~~=%# Leaves Are Teal, White And Yellow, Some #%=~~~~,,,
,~~=†%## Even The Color Of Wine. They Have Lilac ###&%†=~~,
,~~~~~=† Flowers And In The Morning They Are Wet #&†=~~~~~,
,~~=†%## With Dew. ###&%†=~~,
,~~=%### ####&%=~~,
,~~=†%## Father Is Away During The Day Doing ###&%†=~~,
,,,,~~=††& Important Things Elsewhere. He Is Weary &††=~~,,,,
,~~=†%## When He Returns Home, Each Day More So ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Than The Next. We Learn To Cook For Him ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## So That He Does Not Have To. We Tend To ###&%†=~~,
,~=†%### His Clothes. ####&%†=~,
,~~=†%## ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Suddenly The Dense Bushwork Is Mirrored ###&%†=~~,
,,,,,,~=†& Inside. Stems And Leaves Appear Close &†=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~~=%# To The Walls And Far From The Light. We #%=~~,,,,,
,,,~~==†&& Are Glad, For The Flowers Are Beautiful &&†==~~,,,
,~~=†%## And Smell Good, And There Is Little ###&%†=~~,
,,,,,~~~†& Decoration In Our House. But When &†~~~,,,,,
,~~=†### Father Comes Home He Is Angry And Cuts ####&†=~~,
,,,,,~=% Them All Down In A Frenzy. We Are #&%=~,,,,,
,,,~~~~†&& Scared Of Him Then. &&†~~~~,,,
,~~=†%## ###&%†=~~,
,,,,~=†& We Are Then Tasked With Removing Any #&&†=~,,,,
,,,,~~=%&& Indoor Plant We See. But They Are So &&%=~~,,,,
,~~=†%## Beautiful! We Wait Just Until Father ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%#### Comes Home And Until Then We Enjoy ####%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Them. Sometimes An Animal Will Sneak In ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%&# But We Always Shoo Them Out. With Fresh ##&&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Cut Flowers Thrown Right Outside The ###&%†=~~,
,,,~===%%# House He Suspects And Resents Our #%%===~,,,
,,,,,~=† Inaction. But He Doesn'T Have The #&†=~,,,,,
,~~~=††& Energy To Scold Us. He Weakens Quickly. #&&††=~~~,
,~~=†%## It Is Not Long Before He Is Still Tired ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Even In The Morning And Must ###&%†=~~,
,,,,~=%%%# Reluctantly Leave The Outdoor Weed #%%%=~,,,,
,,,,,~=†%# Cutting To Us As Well, Untrusting That #%†=~,,,,,
,~~=†%## We Will Carry It Out. ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Now He Leaves As Soon As He'S Awake And ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Falls Asleep As Soon As He Returns. We ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## Are Left To Care For Us And The House ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†%## And The Orchard. But It Is Hard And We ###&%†=~~,
,~~=†††%%# Are Distracted. We Are Not As #%%†††=~~,
,,,,~=%% Persistent As Father And Quickly Fall #&%%=~,,,,
,,,,,~†%## Behind In Our Duties. ##%†~,,,,,
,~~=†%## ###&%†=~~,
,,,~~==%%# #%%==~~,,,
,,,,~==% #&%==~,,,,
,~~=†%## ###&%†=~~,
,,,,,~=† #&†=~,,,,,