Garden Path
as if Monet had planted water lilies in Babylon
hanging gardens at the heart of a canvas of joy
hiding despair at Speaker’s corner in Hyde Park
debating journeys and destinations like Epicure
a silent whisper reaches my midnight blue soul
‘trust me’ she chants ‘I am Gaia all will be good’
Versailles meets the red poppies of Flanders
Cosmos flowers reach out from the trenches
Honeysuckle creeps up a window of change
thistles engulf a few stray hawthorn branches
Klimt kisses Munch’s scream in consolation
Vermeer lost an earring in wild undergrowth
I paint in my mind over disbelief and mistrust
gather seeds and offshoots running away
shelter an acorn on its way to an oak tree
replace a worn noose with a stepladder
a trowel hung from a rusty nail in my derelict shed
wheels had come off the barrow and refused to spin
I removed my torn gloves and brushed over fears
ignored blisters of hardship and touched the soil
sought blessing and gratitude from a kind nature
as a silver moon watched and I lost all track of time
lavender fragrance mingles with cinnamon bark
nettles attract butterflies that feast on its scent
earthworms turn over compost for a fresh start
heaps of old logs give harbour to bumbling bees
once imprisoned in a colony of rattling snakes
with only rotten apples to nourish my charcoal pain
hornets building their nest on wood worm and sorrow
dried ink in my pen refused to see the beauty of change
stung into living by polychrome complexion
with each weed requiring an hour of courage
fertilized by resilience of coarsely ground bone
it was the garden that saved me from passing on
callus meta morphed into palm trees and life lines
scars healed over time with a pitch fork’s guidance
a water trough filled cheered on by receding drought
oiled secateurs pruned aberrant twiglets and roots
today I walk barefoot on what promises nurture
cherish my meadow and discover my own ground
share a vegetable patch with ladybirds and snails
and refuse to be the corpse I was destined to be
12 June 2020
Copyright © Kai Michael Neumann | Year Posted 2020
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