The flowers are beautiful.They match the colorful tomatoes and red peppers.The peppers are picked, washed, and then simmered.Olive oil and thyme dances around themMy grandmother adds the ackee and saltfishdumplings fry nearbyShe cuts an onion in her handsthe pieces join the beloved potShe glances out the window at the garden.The grass is tall and a plush green,too green to be real.The gardener’s tools are in the basement nearby,they’ve been dormant for a while now.The fence meant nothing to the squirrels and snakes,They didn’t bother the gardener,and they didn’t dare bother us as we playedand laughedand dancedat our backyard parties.There’s a beloved white rabbit buried here somewherein the little wooden coffinthat the gardener made for him solay the flowers at the rabbit’s grave,And the gardener’s also.
The Flowers are Beautiful
November 13, 2022
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