After reading in Adrienne Rich
and “diving into the wreck”
with her as Virgil to my Dante,
together we dreamed a “common language.”
(undertaking conversion, a communal act)
Young as I was then, I marveled
at reading the written language
that was only beginning to form in me
living my woman’s life––having children,
cleaning house, having dreams
of a garden planted long ago
and forgotten. Then did I walk
into the woods where I came upon
the garden and remembered––
Kneeling among flowers entangled
with weeds, I was filled with joy
and hope, even as the landscape
challenged me with the thought
of years of work that lay ahead
to bring the garden to full bearing
and complete the cycle of promise
in the planted seed.
