El Jardinero/The Gardener
National Poetry Month/Poem a Day
Danny gardens
Like
Michelangelo
Painted walls
His outdoor canvas
More beautiful
More carefully composed
Than most murals
Purple Mexican tulips
Parade like royalty
Golden Esperanza
Rises like the dawn
Firebrush, Cape honeysuckle,
Turk caps—all flower,
Sprays of magnolia
Pink starbursts of plumeria
Even the humble
Colocasia,
The elephant ear plant
Is vivid, bright, verdant.
Palm trees,
The high maintenance,
Emotionally needy
Life partners of the plant world
Thrive under Danny’s touch.
He tends each plant,
His hands a brush on canvas
Knowing when to water
When to fertilize,
When to trim
What each plant needs,
A master of his craft.
Danny retired
Ten years ago
Got a job as a contractor
So he can still tend his plants
I asked him why
He keeps working.
A man of few words,
Danny shrugs
Saying, “I like to keep busy,”
And “I like lazy people.
They make sure
I still have a job.”
Whatever Danny’s motivations
We are blessed daily
By his carefully crafted
Masterpieces.
About the Creator
Chuck Etheridge
Novelist, Teacher, Transplanted West Texan, Reluctant Poet
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