Garden of Early Delights

Not quite the garden labyrinth
few hedgerows, roaming hyacinth
yet here I long to lose my cares
removed from routines, flights of stairs
to wander simply through this green
where lavender and lilac lean
suspended tendrils, coiling vines
blazing blossoms, scent of pines
this branching path inviting rounds
about aged fountains, yawning grounds
where birdbaths plash with songful calls
past distant windchimes, waterfalls
rejuvenating turn by turn
reminding me how much I yearn
to pull back from the brute array
of urban furies if I may
let nature soothe my rattled heart
become a student of its art
much like Thoreau did once before
and reach my Walden and restore
that younger wonder, space, and zest
we forfeit once we're soon possessed
by life's demands distractedly
until those moments we can see
beyond chaotic drudgery
and feel the balance always there
within those roses, waters, air
behind that shrub, beneath these leaves
before the lotus, where light weaves
a timeless beauty with our eyes
and we awake to realize
our gardens will be gray too soon.
So let us pause here, breathe, attune
reclaiming what we cannot keep,
like children, laugh, while willows weep.




Garden of Early Delights © Copyright 2021, Robert J. Tiess.

View this poem at AllPoetry.com

Photo challenge prompt (garden with paths) - link: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2740562-Photography--224
Submitted: January 14, 2020









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