THE GARDEN WAS OVERGROWN NOW

By Jeannie Kirchen

The garden was overgrown now

Last summer Cecil’s illness took its toll

Too sick to care for it properly

The task fell to Jake and me

But, Jake had a job and school took up much of his time

Trying to care for Cecil and work too, the garden suffered

WEEDS, WEEDS, AND MORE WEEDS

Overwhelming, what a daunting task beheld us

Where do we begin

Saddened by the overgrowth

Tugging at the weeds that had choked our vegetables

Yanking them out, tossing them aside

Frustration and anger over the circumstances

The ugliness repelled me and I wanted to cry

Cry for the garden

Cry for Cecil

Cry for me, too

But I didn’t

The garden was overgrown now

So, I attacked the weeds with a vengeance

Wanting the garden to be beautiful again

Beautiful, like it always was

Whenever Cecil took care of it

He was a Master Gardener

Through the years I’d helped

But this was something that he’d enjoyed

It had been therapeutic, a way for him to commune with nature

Unable to do much now

Little energy, stuck in the house

Jake and I did our best

But didn’t succeed

Vegetables were lost as weeds completely took over

Distraught, and weary

With remorse filled hearts

We knew nothing more could be done

To save our precious produce

Once the weeds had gotten out of control

We were unable to care for the fruits of our labor

Without further help

Cecil ailed and so had our garden

Foreshadowing one another

Of what eventually would be

The life of both, gone from me, now

The hands that tended

And the food that came forth

Gone, flying free like the wind

To a garden in Heaven

Overgrown, no longer