
I.
The Gardener (A Palinode: a retraction to the piece below)
The gardener’s day
pours back and forth.
They’re dead, he says.
The azaleas survived one summer.
Died mid-winter when everything
looks dead. He walks the garden,
complains about living on a hill
of chalk, the wind sweeping away
the bits and pieces of his sentence.
I’ll make the gardener a cup tea,
and two digestives for dunking.
II.
The Gardener (A Narrative Voice)
The gardener watches a soft
muzzle of clouds lying in wait.
Rain.
He’s not much for poetry, but
he is a poet. Each plant contains
a gardeners’ syllable, perennial
pages and stanza borders, and
yes, I acknowledge ample weeds
sprouting thin as legs everywhere.
Weeding is my forte, I’m told, but
he’s undeterred by written water
spilling from a tap, a robin’s nibbed
appetite for overturned worms.
The bird pounces. The gardener
returns a squinting smile. And I’ve
nearly forgotten that this blank
page of his will come solid colour.
He watches the clouds. For signs.
For fate. I watch a pot of simmering
soup, because watched pots
never boil.
Written for dVerse Poets: the first poem is a “Palinode” in response to the narrative voice exercise which follows it. The image is from the British National Library Archive. c 1350. Shared with @Experimentsinfc #APoemADay on Twitter ©Misky 2021
14 responses to “A dVerse Palinode”
A brave attempt, boldly undertaken, and finely accomplished, Misky. Awesome palinode indeed. salute.
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Thank you, Ron.
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I love it, Marilyn, especially the ‘gardener’s syllable ‘ and the ‘robin’s number appetite ‘. I can see him dunking his digestive just like my granddad.
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Thank you, Kim!
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I just noticed my Kindle gremlins struck again!
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Beautiful! I was taken right into the garden! The ending make me think about how focused thought can transcend time! 💕
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How lovely! Thank you.
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Welcome! 🌸
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The unsuccessful gardener’s season is much less pleasant than the successful one’s. Good topic for a palinode, Misky.
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Wow! The contrast to the original poem is brilliant! Especially love; “He walks the garden,complains about living on a hill of chalk.” 💝💝
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Thank you!
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I ca really feel this.. maybe for the gardener it’s the effort that is most important not the result.
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This gardener sounds most deserving of a cup of tea, and these poems which honour him.
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Very nicely done! Gardening does take a lot of work and perspective decides the outcome!
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