#NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 11 : “It’s All For the Sake of This Garden”

Posted byJennifer PatinoPosted inpoetryTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,




It’s All For the Sake of This Garden

it’s your birthday
& since you’re going mad
with the same scenery
day after mundane day
we’re planting
live willow trees
in the freshly mowed yard

you tell me the shovel
cost only fourteen dollars,
then tell a fourteen minute story
about your favorite age
being fourteen — winter amnesia
made me forget that time
but you’re a frequent reminder,
a breathing calendar we’ve come
to rely on — & there
was a falling limb
with your name
on it, it came for you
in the afternoon,
taking a final leap
onto the landing net
of your skull,
& you said
that injury
cured all
your other ailments

my nose feels like
butterflies are feasting
on the membranes,
it’s only springtime allergies
& through a benadryl haze
I’m seeing rainbows
around everything

I wonder aloud
if this type of tree
will survive the brutal heat
but you’re ignoring me
in favor of birdsong,
whistling along,
asking me
what the tune
sounds like

I know these willows
will probably survive you,
so that’s why I
dig alone
while you grow tired
in the shade, already
a fading flicker
I’m trying to capture,
already a man
of smoke
slipping away

you go in
for a nap,
eyes of old movie stars
thumbtacked to
the primordial
wallpaper watching you
while you sleep

you say
good morning to them
no matter what time
you wake, & I’ll thank
all your sentinels
for keeping you here
for another hour

we talk about whether
or not you want a cake
until the stores close
then regret it
repeatedly
as the night flows on

tomorrow we’ll plant
trees, you say, the holes
are dug & the thought
of them digs in to me,
little graves, the big
empty — more coffee,
more stories, more
time is all we need


Published by Jennifer Patino

Poet.

19 thoughts on “#NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 11 : “It’s All For the Sake of This Garden””

  2. At first, I thought the narrator was helping out a parent to plant the willows. Then I figured I didn’t need to know the type of relationship between the narrator and other person. Could be a married couple or siblings or friends. To me, the love that the narrator feels for the other person comes clearly through. And I really like how you took seemingly ordinary things and made them into the fantastical (like allergies into butterflies feasting).

    Liked by 4 people

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  6. What a realistic dreamy weave… tugged on my heartstrings, too. A poetic story glimpse we’ll all continue in our hearts, memories, and minds’ eyes… I’m remembering this morning why your words stuck out in the WP sea when I originally found you, and why I was so excited when you returned. ❤️

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. mnnn. yes! I like. thanks. so beautiful. I like your style Jennifer. Glad we had this ”holy encounter” today. What a lovely day it has been, but oh, look at that, it’s 12:48 am time for bed indeed. Have a fantabulous day today. be well. I wish you miracles.

    Liked by 1 person

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