The Gardener’s Shadow

Peter Gardener Shadow

The umbrella

Known as a Southern live oak

Waits for her heart

Arms open, waiting for an embrace

Roots tethered to the ground,

Unable to run to him

As she once did in another life

Remembered in whispers…

As the morning lavender light rises

Around the east corner of her trunk

He appears wearing a Panama hat,

Carrying a pale aqua watering jug

That provides her nutrition,

Slurps and gulps of his blessings

And while her leaves flirt with the wind

He leaves his shadow near her heart

So she’ll never forget…

The shadows her gardener leaves behind.

Sara Fryd