Your Own Gardener

[tonysciarini]

Dig at that empty earth
Spread its treasure across your past
Until the weed that is
Resembles the vine that was
Destiny planted into past as a tree
And called a seed

Shape your past and future
Into one present
A semi-precious mound
Beloved, you think, by you in former dreams
And dappled with the precious light
Of a soothsayer who, with trained hands, kneads worries into platitudes
Until they harden under
The full baking of the sun

Tend your budding apprehensions
Lest you think the vine grown before its time
Clip, then
Clip away their tender shoots
Binding them to the vine
To make them such a part of you
That you know and are known by them

Pray, in time, that with the nourishment of your tears
The weight of its fruit will fall
Down
Into hands open for consolation
Soft as they are
Bred as they were to palm dreams turned vintage
And be led by the hands of a gardener
Their eyes blinded by you
As blinded you are
Having stared too long at a never-setting sun

[Dew]

the 'extended metaphor' purrs in your lap. You have done justice to the idea and followed through with excellent results! I like the idea of tilling our past to make ourselves ready for what we want to reap in the future. Clever! -dew

[dwells]

TS - The soothsayer kneading worries into platitudes and the entire second stanza was such a magnificent verbal image that I had to re-visit several times. and enjoyed it more with each consecutive reading. Definitely an exquisite message spoken with the wisdom of dirty hands that know the land and minds of Man, cheers! Weeds and seed to cover the empty earth, dig it!

[tonysciarini]

Dew, thank you for seeing the coherence in this poem. That was important to me! Yes, the notion of our past affecting our future was definitely apart of the message. Thanks for reading!

[tonysciarini]

dwells, thanks for taking the time to read my poem, and for seeing the imagery I used. Yes, the hands in this poem apart of each stanza, and so were important, too. Thank you again!

[Ladywildalice]

Really enjoyed this one. Excellent read and exquisite write. Congrats on the spotlight. Thanks for sharing your wonderful gift.

[karrie]

This is such a wonderful write! Much enjoyed and congrats on the Spotlight!

[BarryC]

this deserves the spotlight -well done

[LorettaYoung]

Cogratulations; this is a wonderful poem hewn from past and future together by metaphor that makes it sing. Thanks for posting this. Loretta

[tonysciarini]

Thanks, everyone. This was kind of important to hear because this poem was rejected by a magazine. I appreciate your kindness.

Thank you, Loretta. You saw the use past and future to influence the present. This was one of my intentions.

[ciceromantic]

I reiterate everything great compliment that has been spoken above. But, what I love most is the reference to gardening, which I think is so rudimentary and universal to each person's life, whether they live in the city or the country, when they realize how growth belongs to the Earth.