Garden Waste (2023)

Emotions rise like morning light,
Breaking the surface, eager and bright.
Ready to open, a hidden flower's grace,
Beautiful but noxious in this garden's space.

Breathing and sighing, I reach above,
Toward your love, a boundless love.
Releasing coiled tendrils, I yearn and pine,
To grasp the succulent dew divine.

Beneath tender leaves, I find my way
Down to the firming few, where I'll stay.
Prompt to reply to that radiant light,
I'll cherish this garden, through day and night.

Unfurling across the earth's soft bed,
I watch you spray them with pestilence dread.
You withered my friends, among a league so true.
In this garden waste, I still reach for you.

Blistered white skin, tissue drooping thin,
Numb are my loving eyes within.
You clutch the spade with aim and haste,
To remove this garden waste.

But under your thumb, an infant sprout,
Defying death, as it pushes out.
Bely the dead in nature's dance,
Certain to win love's sweet romance.