The Shepherd's Garden
originally published in the Whitman Anthology: Local Gems 2024
It is the safety of the garden that I seek
Where flowers are not condemned to death but
Grow grow with the gardener’s touch of light
Though those who gently sift the soil before the night
Rework soft granules of dark for bulbs to bloom, chant
Grow grow with the gardener’s touch of light
Because the hope of growth is bright
These frail fingers might have let the feral ground lay waste, yet flowers
Grow grow with the gardener’s touch of light
Though we seek the solace of the sun’s sweet height
Like petals turning toward a higher power in the day, we
Grow grow with the gardener’s touch of light
It is not a funeral’s plot we sight
Astounded by color of so much life from simple clay, we hear the edict
Grow grow with the gardener’s touch of light
And we like stems set on this glorious test of might
Give thanks for celestial tears that quench the needy thirst
For in the safety of the garden, all
Grow grow with the Gardener’s touch of light.
Lynette G. Esposito has been published in Poetry Quarterly, Deep Overstock, North of Oxford, and many anthologies. She was married to Attilio Esposito and lives in Southern New Jersey.