What You Get From A Garden

A poem by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

Visible gratitude.
Small surprises.
Metaphors.
Antidotes for too much thought.
A place to do some thinking.
A place to slash and burn and feel good about it.
A dozen shades of green.
Solveable problems.
More than you put in.
Permission to be muddy.
A model of God’s efficiency
And extravagance.
A chance to see the whole wheel turn.
A feast of color. 
Encounters with interesting creatures.
Patience.
A place to “practice resurrection.”
Zucchini for the whole neighborhood.
A place to practice military strategy on small predators.
A chance to start over.

You may enjoy her book, Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies.  

Poem used by permission of Marilyn McEntyre. marilynmcentyre.com

This was first posted February 17, 2011 when my blog was very new and I had many fewer readers. It deserves an annual rehearsal to remind me what I get from a garden.