The Mother Gardener
(Nancy Rosulek Kramer)

She may not think of herself as one who spends much time in the dirt
But she is a master gardener,
Her flowers are her children,
Her family is her garden

She tilled the dirt and took out the rocks
She built a fence to keep out the bugs
And when the season was right
She planted her seeds, and waited for them to sprout
One flower at a time

The first flower was a freckled sunflower, blooming in late summer
Yellow petals curled in through the chilly mornings
Then opening wide and bright in the afternoon,
Basking in the warm afternoon sunbeams

The second flower sprouted in the late spring, when the winter rains had passed
A bean stalk with white blooms, a vine that grew tightly around the oak tree
Flourishing and towering high above the garden, requiring lots of feeding

The third plant bloomed in mid-summer, this one growing in the shade
Too much sun on this hosta, and the petals wither and burn
A low growing, low maintenance, fairly resilient perennial

The mother gardener is always there to water her flowers
She makes sure they’re not being eaten by bugs or pests
The prunes them to make them grow straight and strong
She trims the trees above, to make sure they get the sun they need
If the plants get sick, she seeks the proper care and remedy

She wakes up early in the morning to check in on her garden
To gaze at the different color combinations, shapes, sizes
Her patience and commitment to her little piece of land,
Left her with strong and healthy flowers
Deep roots and firm stems
So they can stand when the winds of fall blow in

The flowers love the gardener, because she is their beautiful mother, who gave them life.