Claire V. Bogdanos

Lemon balm and lavender, amaryllis green

All the scents a garden holds, vibrant though unseen

Tansy tall and spearmint bright spend their perfumes gay

While violets and lilies white do their incense spray

Midst this tangled rooting mass lies a seed unborn

That may blossom forth one day into times forlorn.

Tiny mums, petunias bold nestle side by side

Laughing bells with nodding heads do their mirth confide,

Watch the painted daisy bow with a grace serene,

Spreads the creeping myrtle discreetly in-between,

How this sight does profit me as I chance intrude

Like some stranger in a trance, arrogant and rude.

In a field of thornbush one lonely primrose grew

Pledging soon that I’d forget that long wait I knew,

I trace again those times that quickly flew too fast

While roses by a fence remind me of the past,

Alas my life slips by too soon its season ends

And I am left behind to grieve the loss of friends.

A flower ends its life in quiet simple ways

Enriched by nature’s cool and passionless displays,

The years may come and go as petals fade and die

But in the life of man this fading means goodbye,

Reaching the final circumstance wherein resides

The blending of that time when none but truth presides.

Sunlight in a garden though seeming ever bright

Fades into a sunset where flowers sleep at night

Fulfillment of happenings that I dare not know,

Like shadows of sentiment those I scarce can show

Reminds me that a man though born of God’s intent

Fades into the darkness before his life is spent.

I’ve walked among the shadows, whistled in the rain

Faced the bloody mountain and shivered with the pain

I’ve questioned valid reason and read books untold

Searching for an answer about what life might hold,

Yet always in my mind that field of flowers glows

Can I trust one promise beyond what nature grows?