The Gardener

A long fantasy poem about life, death, reconciliation and forgiveness... Or something.

Older than water, stubborn as stone,
There'll be no forgiveness for all that you've known.
Oh these days get heavy…
– “Second Chances,” Imagine Dragons


Mary, guardian of her garden,
Lived protected within brick walls of paradise.
She tended roses of sunset shades,
Healing herbs, perennials strong and true.
Proud centerpiece stood tall, an evergreen Tree of Life,
Ringed with stone dragons fierce.
Its leaves fluttered in every breeze,
Branches sturdy for birds to nest.

One day, a shadow fell across her path:
Nemesis came knocking at the gates.
Damien… She had loved him once,
Until treachery drove them apart
Hate pushing all else aside.

Mary stood at her gate, sword drawn.
“What brings you here, ten years later?
Have you come to get revenge?”

Head bowed, hands open, no weapon in sight:
“I ask only for a leaf off your Tree of Life.
I am soon to die, and seek forgiveness
Before it is too late.”

“Indeed you jest,” she scowled. “You look fine to me.
Be on your way! No leaf from my tree you're getting.”
She swung the gate shut, chained and bolted,
Striding back to her garden, fuming inside.
How dare he show himself again
After what he'd done?

“He can drop dead, for all I care.
The tree is not mine to share,
Nor forgiveness mine to give.”

As she spoke, a leaf shriveled up,
Falling silently to earth at her feet.
Another one followed.

“He cursed it!” She cried, grinding her boot in the dirt.
“If this keeps up, I'll have his head!”

Next day, a shower of dead leaves swirled around its trunk,
Settling restlessly on ground now cracked and dry.
Mary paced, circling the stone dragons,
As birdsong hushed to uncanny stillness.
When his knock came again, she rushed to face him,
Belligerent thoughts overflowing.

“You're killing it! My tree is dying, my birds disappeared –
Is this what you showed up to do?”

White now appeared in his shock of brown hair,
Dark circles under eyes of blackest blue.

“It is not I, but you. What you withhold is killing us both.”

“Why should I forgive you,
Granting you the gift of life?
You're unworthy of my garden.
I'll let it all die before I let you live!”

This went on for days,
Death creeping outward from her tree,
Leaves crumbling down,
Sooty fungus climbing up the trunk.

Each day, Damien appeared, his hair whiter,
Eyes sunken, feverish as whatever was within ate him away.
Mary denied him each time.
He came always empty-handed, without bribes or threats.
Only words, a soul laid bare.

“I'm sorry for hurting you. Is there no hope of atonement?”

“None whatsoever. Don't bother coming back.”

There was at last but one green leaf remaining on her tree.
She stood long in front of it, thinking,
As silently encroaching thunderclouds muffled a reddened sunrise.
If her garden died with Damien, what remained?
Only a hollow, hardened heart
Within a walled desert.
What more had she to lose?
Could anything be gained, proven, by continued denial?

One faint knock on her gate.
If she spurned him this time,
There would not be another chance.

She laid aside her sword,
Plodding heavily to garden's entry portal
Unbolted, unchained, slid open to see.
Damien stood, pale, bony, weary,
No words escaped, yet remained
The eternal question in his faded eyes.

Tears came at last to Mary's own
As cold rain drizzled down on them.
She held the gate open, reached out a hand.

“Come in. It is not you I have resisted, but nature itself.”

“Thank you,” he whispered.

She took his hand to guide him through
The skeleton of her once thriving garden.
Gusts of wind swatted their faces,
Threatening to tear away the last leaf
Before they made it to the Tree.

Mary slipped between her stone dragons,
Eager to give up her last leaf of life – Oh horrors!
A venomous serpent strangled the algaed trunk,
Source of blight now plain to see.

“Begone, slithering creature of death!
You shall not poison my soul any longer.”

She took up her sword, slicing off the serpent's head.
That was all it took.
Blight now removed, Mary's garden renewed itself,
Life encompassing them as dark clouds broke open,
Revealing sunbeams in sapphire skies.
The tree came to life again,
Birds alighting on gently bouncing green branches.

Damien, still weak, surveyed in awe.
Mary led him to the Tree of Life,
Snapped off a budding sprig, holding it out.

“I forgive you. What came between us is gone. Take and live.”

A strong man once more, he stayed within her walled garden
Helping her ensure it remained a paradise.
Partners, fellow gardeners, their blighted past buried with the serpent.
Peace flowed like crystal waters of a spring,
And the Tree of Life stood tall.

Notes ▼

Words: 778. Lines: 110. Free verse epic poetry.
Written for "We Want Peace Contest" 
Prompt: We want peace!
And also for "Merit Badge Magic" 
Prompt: The Thoughtful Gardener. The main character is a gardener who's garden is especially important to him/her to the point of obsession. Why is it so important?

Second Chances ▼