spring planting

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    Somedays you have a chance
    to give hope hands and feet
    or, should I say, leaves and flowers.

    With the help of some who know
    more than I about planting,
    we dug holes in our front yard,

    etching out earthy invitations for
    heurchera, hellebores; edworthia, and
    elderberry; currant, fiddlehead,

    lobelia, and white wood aster;
    paw paw and — of course — wild
    ginger (no tamed ginger, thanks)

    to sink their roots and grow into
    themselves right before our eyes, as
    we go about our goings out and

    our comings in, all of us under the
    shade of a centenarian pin oak
    who has seen more springs and

    summers than I will ever know.
    Whoever planted that tree never
    imagined me digging in the dirt,

    sinking roots and hoping for enough
    springs and summers to see growth
    and leave something behind.

    Peace,
    Milton

    5 COMMENTS

    1. I love the line “to give hope hands and feet.” It is stronger though, and gives more emphasis to that image, if the line ends with feet, even if it still requires the comma. (Maybe I should say that I’m a former Creative Writing Teacher, so I’ll not be upset if you ignore my comment.)

      And I love the names of your beautiful shade plants as well as the images some of those bring. You’ve really captured a moment here!

    2. And of course wild ginger… of course!

      Love all the references to particular flora. That´s what gives it so much heart.

      And of course the poem is just plain beautiful. So glad to have you in our poetry celebration…

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