Blogophilia 48.3 Topic: “Spring Fever”
Bonus Points:
(Hard, 2 pts): incorporate 2 electric wood working tools
(Easy, 1 pt) : mention a cracked pot
“The Old Gardener” by Thomas Kiefer (c) 2011
The Gardener
Every March saw him grow restless,
he felt the rush of spring fever
coursing through his ambitious veins,
evidenced by dog-eared Burpee catalogs
and tattered gardener’s books
stacked beside the painted pantry.
Strong arthritic fingers dug
into coarse, pungent loam,
pushing tiny seeds deep down,
in a blanket of black compost,
sprinkled with water and love.
In his modest backyard garden
lilac bushes perfumed the air,
purple morning-glory caressed
the varnished wooden arbor,
tangerine daylilys waved from beds
beside rows of violet snapdragons,
standing tall, on guard like soldiers.
Robust bell peppers pushed forth
in brilliant hues of green and scarlet,
savory sun ripened tomato vines
crawled high up wooden stakes
like rogue bladerunners
reaching for the cloudless sky.
But in a cruel twist of fate,
the heartless hands of winter
took the tired gardener
during the bleakest blizzard.
Spring dawned with April rain,
but the tiny garden fell
into inevitable disrepair —
cracked pots of terra-cotta
speckled with mud lay
beneath the weathered arbor,
weeds sprouted up, choking
the life out of the seedlings,
leaving once fertile beds
dry and barren.
The latch of the shed has rusted,
but the aluminum door gives way
to tools of his precious trade.
I feel a surge in my restless veins
as I grab the blue tined rake
and work the dirt, sweating,
sifting out stones, dead roots,
and clumps of dried weeds.
My nimble thin fingers
enrich the beds with loam,
dig trenches to scatter seeds,
rubber boots tamping down soil,
embellishing with cool water
as my heart fills with hope
that life and love will bloom again…
I can almost smell the lilacs.
Colleen M. Breuning © 2011
January 27, 2011
Note to Marvin: My tools are the saw and the bladerunner. The Rockwell BladeRunner RK7320 Cutting Machine is a combination of a jigsaw, scroll saw and band saw, all in one variable speed machine. Versatile machine cuts wood, metal, PVC, ceramic tile and more. Hmmm…. put that on my birthday list, hehe….
SECRET BONUS POINT GUESSES
Taking out the trash, Louis Vuitton bag, rags to riches, bags to riches, fit for a king, designer garbage bag, rich man’s bag, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure (or woman’s treasure), recycling in style, cats got the bag, my front porch, rubbish, no dumping allowed.
Colleen Keller Breuning 