Passing Things

The wise gardener tends to his garden;
lush and green, ripe in seeded core,
and sprouting within high walls
built on homely comforts.

Strange fog slithers from beyond,
its smokey fingers cold and dead
reaching forth a silent choke;
no end, unknown dread.

Gardener shivers, gardener trembles,
where will roots breathe beneath this siege.

A moment's quiet and he smiles,
closed eyes relinquish misted lies;
sun returns and so does warmth,
open dawn, the fog is gone

The wise gardener tends to his garden.

I really dig the way you anchor seasonal change with an emotional one. I remember writing a piece a while ago, it was a battle with my bro Self and you were the only one who caught on the juxtaposition of the piece. Now I can see why. You certainly have the ability to turn the mundane into multidimensional, complex experience. The fable of a farmer's plight with the season is, on the surface, a simple telling but the emotions anchored into each diction really turns the reader at an angle, allowing one to actualize the depth.

Stanza 1. Key phrase is homely comfort. Great word selections. Words like lush and ripe connotes positive associations which works great with the calm placid surface of the piece.

Stanza 2. Visually outstanding. Again great word choices that holds the appropriate sentiments. I suppose if I was to dig deep to find any semblance of "flaw" it would be the lack of a smooth (conceptually) transition between the dream scale of the first and the gothic pathos of the second. But honestly I'd have to reach to really point that out. It literally came to me after the 5th read. Imagery as potent and poignant as ever.

Stanza 3. Great play on the senses. Shiver and tremble are interesting word choices as both describes the same thing. Most writer would risk redundancy, doing that, but yours seemed calculated; it worked somehow. It certainly expounded on the sensation of the character.

Stanza 4. I felt this was the expositional stanza. My read tells me that this verse is a poking at the dichotomy of pessimism and optimism. I'm probably way off but that's what it felt like to me. The TRANCE-parency of perception seemed to be the crux of this piece. I'm a psych major and I've always felt the word "sleep" in and of itself is an anchor (something the subconscious mind responds well to in most cases aka ). Reminds of the Milton Model of "reframing". It might not mean much to u but it's a common practice in hypnotherapy. That stanza alone made this dope to me.

Stanza 5. Nice callback. Dug the way the whole event was but a fleeting moment. Great job man!

- - - Updated - - -

I'm sure u didn't meant for this to be a metaphorical journey into the psychology of man (or did u? Ha) but the fact I got that out it really made it a dope read for me. Again, good stuff man.

I enjoyed this piece a whole lot for its circular nature and because the demonstration of the gardener's wisdom. It's clear that the gardener (and yourself) understand the influence reflection has on anxiety as it begins to settle.

Besides the concept itself, your word choice throughout the work presents familiar (yet original) mental images. What I appreciate the most is the contrast in diction between the (homely) luxuriant growth in the first stanza and the unfamiliar, ominous weather of the second stanza.

I liked this a lot. Thank you