Attention! I did an OOPS! Forgot to mention that this poem also appeared on the venerable blog, ABC Wednesday. Thanks to Roger Green for pointing it out, and do follow the link over there to read dozens of posts – poetry, photography, family histories… anything about the letter “B.” Thanks, Amy
———————————
What do you say we take a day off from political rhetoric, especially from cracker Jacks packin’ their pistols in compensation (read yesterday’s comments if you doubt me!). Kim Nelson at Poets United said today, “A good poem feels vivid and visceral and close to the source.” She then challenged us to get close to the source, using flourishes of color and other details to help the poem bloom.
She also suggests we offer one another constructive ideas about how to dig even deeper for that detail, so I look forward to your comments! This is also on the borders of Imaginary Garden With Real Toads. Peace, Amy
Garden Bloomers and Bloopers
Hand in grimy glove, the garden game
Where woman meets Underground and
spies Resistance at every turn
On high, Frying Pan in the Sky flew off
(vacationing in Bermuda, warming
pink coral-shell sand, toasting tourists)
My sandals, cool blue cruisers, propel me
out the screen door (Squeak! It begs,
“Oil me, tend to me, love me too!”)
Horticultural not my forte; rather, my
pianissimo, yet with practice and practical advice,
I’m pure shovel, old wooden rake… and hoe.
A little brown Slimy slithers out to greet me,
kneads dense soil with time-honored intentions,
necessary cog in the nature machine of green
Rousting Brown-Eyed Susans, wilted into
Bruised-Eyed Brown Twigs; they’re sentenced
to the pile “where the worm never dies”
New, preening yellow slim thingamajigs
move into Susan’s former digs. I dig ’em.
Sprinkle ‘em. The rest sinks beneath my control
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 
ersie37
Hey, you could add this to ABC Wednesday (it’s B week; just noting…)
Sharp Little Pencil
Ooooh, like I said, you’ve always got my back, Rog!! Thanks, Amy
Mary
To spend time with hands in the ground is a worthy summer pursuit, whether or not one is a gifted horticulturist. It just FEELS good.
Sharp Little Pencil
Amen, Mary! Amy
brian miller
smiles…there is something tht happens when we put our hands to the earth and create…its a beautiful spiritual kinda thing for me…in with the worms, yes they are a part of it all…smiles….
now, oil that door…smiles.
Sharp Little Pencil
No, Lex gets to oil the door. I’m too busy naming the worms! wink Amy
kaykuala
I’m pure shovel, old wooden rake… and hoe.
Getting one’s hand dirty is a great start to appreciating and making friends with nature. The fun is when the seeds that germinate unseen later develop into fruit-bearing greenies. Never mind it’s not as pretty as one in the supermarts. It’s the fun getting there that counts. Enjoyed your take Amelita! Thanks for sharing!
Hank
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Hank. I sincerely hope they don’t all die at my hands… I have a “grey thumb…” Amelita
georgefloreswrite
🙂 I admire your discipline to use gloves while gardening. After a while, I take mine off just to feel the soil. I tell myself that it’s to get to the roots of weeds, but it’s more than that you know… Peace to you, Amy!
ps: that was the only pic I found of the tank creatures 😉
Sharp Little Pencil
You would not want to dig into the soil here, George. It’s clay and ends up under my nails. Tenacious, this prairie! Ha, thanks for the tank creatures comment! Amy
georgefloreswrite
😉
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com
I take it you are a reluctant gardener! Smiles for the poem.
Snakypoet (Rosemary Nissen-Wade)
I love it and wouldn’t change a thing!
Sharp Little Pencil
Aw, thanks, Rosemary! (You are the one herb I could not plant… Lex is allergic. To ONLY rosemary. Isn’t that bizarre? Amy
Reader Wil
Gardening is not my forte neither is it nowadays my pianissimo. My back aches when I do work in the little garden I have, but I used to like it ( 40 years ago!)
Thanks for your contribution to ABC.
Wil, ABCW Team.
Sharp Little Pencil
Wil, thanks for dropping by! Take care, and ABC rocks, Amy
vandana
where the worm never die….indeed it never does
vandana
I like the way you have used slimy little things to greet you
Sharp Little Pencil
Aw, thanks, Vandana! Amy
Phelipe Di Amaral
Hey … I liked your blog…. I found it in the comment that you left when write “Brasil me encanta. Amy” on the Rage on Page’s Blog in the open letter about HIMYM… and then I enter in your blog and liked …. congrats for the blog and I will back again more times to read the texts… even I don’t be a expert in english I can read most of all texts…and that helps me increase my knowledge and to practice….
Sharp Little Pencil
Phelipe, que lastima, solamente me habla espanol, ningun portuguese. Lo siento para eso. Vivi en Puerto Rico para un ano y media – ahi es donde me aprendi mi espanol. Tu ingles es muy bien! (Lo siento – no hay tildes ni acentos en este programa de WordPress) Gracias para tus palabras favorables de mi trabajo aqui, y muchas disculpas para mi pobre espanol! Paz, Amy
Phelipe Di Amaral
Yeah I really liked your blog…. and don’t be sorry… cause in one way or another we always get understand each other and that’s cool, my spanish is also not good enough… but I understood what you meant cause the words that you use are more or less similar in portuguese…Best wishes!
aka_andrea
‘yet with practice and practical advice,
I’m pure shovel, old wooden rake… and hoe.’
between this and the ‘yellow thingamajigs’ the image of you out there in your garden just puts a smile on my face…such fun here
Sharp Little Pencil
Just went to your blog and checked out your water poem… So glad you enjoyed this one. I sure had fun writing it! Amy
SaraV
Hi Amy, the fun really shines through in this poem, I love digging in the dirt–have to wear gloves here too, red ants like to launch surprise attacks, and weeds can be slippery little devils…a lush and tactile romp with your wonderful wit blooming throughout. I wouldn’t change a word, but I’m not very good with the whole critique..thing:-)
Sharp Little Pencil
Red. Ants. Scare. Me. There, I said it! So glad you stopped by, little “vine”! Amy
mybeautfulthings
That was fun! 🙂
purplepeninportland
Amy, You took visceral and vivid to whole new heights! Love this poem.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Pamelita! I am so fascinated by my drooping and blooming garden… it’s actually yielding some blooms, and I have a notoriously “grey thumb.” Coming to see you now! Amelita
purplepeninportland
Now this is me!
Sharp Little Pencil
Ha, Sara, glad I have another sister in the cause! Amy