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Pamela’s Garden
You’ll find her in the garden every day,
Her comfort and her confidence so bright.
Among the dahlias purple stemmed bouquet
Her radiance reflects an inner light.
She doesn’t care for those who just pretend
to cultivate a feeling for the soil.
With loving touch so gentle does she tend
her trellis roses bound with velvet coils.
Yet welcoming to butterflies and birds
who fill the garden plot with sweetened sounds—
The purple pansy’s welcome overheard
Inviting patient lovers gathered round—
She prunes the tulip bulbs as they announce
that spring has come again this very day.
With joyful sounds the amber lilies flounce
within the shady valley where they lay.
The tips of roses lightly lift their heads
to join the yellow stems of jonquil’s star.
So tenderly embraced with joy they spread
the painted sheen of colors cross the yard.
Her gardener’s touch has influenced every bloom
and coaxed the fearful bud to open wide.
A flourishing of scents fills every room
With gentle touch and Nature by her side.
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Pat Tyrer holds the Jenny Lind Porter Professorship in English at West Texas A&M University and has been on the faculty of English, Philosophy, and Modern Languages since 2002. Her creative work has appeared in Readers’ Digest, Quiet Mountain Essays, Front Porch Review, and Plum Tree Tavern and includes two books of poetry, Creative Hearts and Western Spaces, Western Places.
What a lovely poem, appreciated all the more from one who has the opposite of green fingers.
Thanks for the read, Pat.
So very descriptive and rhythmic!
Pat, I have the feeling you not only have a “green thumb,” but a multicolored one from your beautiful description of the flower garden. Furthermore, your home must smell wonderful. Your poem has a serenity about it and an inviting, caring heart included, at least for the butterflies and the birds.
I have a soft spot for poems about gardens. There is always a serenity and calm about such poems.
In this piece the emphasis is divided equally between the sheer loveliness and scent of the flowers, and the careful cultivation that the gardener bestows. It makes me wonder about Pamela, and leaves me curious to know more about her.
You reveal much about the garden, but mention Pamela only in the title, making her something of a mystery. We have to learn about her from her garden — but isn’t that true for everyone? We are known by what we do. A subtle point, well made here.