The Noble Gardener (Poetry)

His is the most down to earth profession —
a true son of the patient soil
who understands its quiet and subtle secrets
and shares them in his toil.

He tastes the winter on the wind
and knows the scent of what’s in store
before the first frost comes to rime the hedge
and kill the fragile rose... Earth’s deathless lore

of planting — tending crops in the old way
ingrained in him — this noblest of men
who goes about the garden rain or shine
and lives and breathes the season’s change in them.

He touches daily what is always true —
loam or clay leaf-heavy with the rot
of compost raked around and well dug in —
the circle turns — the shoot, the stem gives not

a nod of thanks for nourishment or help
but that first flush of green is all he needs —
the satisfaction in a job well done —
this king of lawns and keeper of bright seeds.