The Gardener’s Flowers
written by: Nattie O’Sheggzy
He presented me with the urn
I listened as He walked away
“You can’t kill them trust me
As long you feed and water them daily
In the dry soil in hotter months.”
A beautiful urn of dancing purple hibiscus
I grimaced because I am notorious
for my inadvertent neglect of flowers
Drooping lilies, desiccated sunflowers
Litters in my garden, mute evidence of my
forgetfulness, my lack of time
flowers, quake in my humble presence
How precious they are but I
A keen gardener cannot care for my kids.
Flowers unlike my dogs and cats
Do not bark to remind me of hunger
Or meow to ask for a bowl of water
Nor do they stand at the door prompting a walk.
Flowers sit silently in their opulence, patiently waiting
To command my attention, sometimes too late.
I know the flowers crave food, water and conversation
I sometimes feel them reaching out to me
Last night I watched them in the urn grudging
each other gesticulating trying to hold hands
The ones I should nurture looked forlorn, dehydrated
Two days before, I had watered them
Happy at how well they thrived.
Now after a day with the blazing heat
The flowers bowed their heads in despair.
The flowers in my pot are mine to water
I am responsible to the flow of Nature
If only I could tap into the stream’s source
Then the earth would be fine and human.
This is no faith but hubris.
- The Gardener’s Flowers - October 6, 2020
