Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AUTUMN IN MY GARDEN, by MARION MACKENZIE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AUTUMN IN MY GARDEN, by                    
First Line: With autumn coming on I hastened home
Last Line: Dust, ashes, on the ground.
Subject(s): Autumn; Gardens & Gardening; Seasons; Fall


With autumn coming on I hastened home
From summer's wandering long—
It seemed so brief!
Rich joy awaited!
In my garden I would linger,
Gulping the fragrance of sweet blossoms
My spring-anticipations seeded hastily.

The roses are gone—I had known they'd be.
Spring is the time for roses, or early summer.
I should not have roamed away
If roses were my quest.
But sweet-peas and asters I shall find.
Yes, here they are, the long rows of sweet-peas,
Saffron, blue, maroon—where are the others?
Wide gaps! Bare earth!
Meagre little clumps
Where riot of abundance should have been.
Oh, careless springtime-planting!

Now I recall that which must bring comfort
After stab of disappointment
In my flowers.
Over in this corner under the weeping-birch
I hid a treasure in the early spring;
Too preoccupied to use it then.
I dig and dig, heart thumping hard with fear—
It may be gone!
I dig, dig deeper—thank God!
Here it is, just as I left it—

My one great talent!
Tenderly I raise it from its lowly bed,
Holding it so carefully in both hands,
Thrilled by the shimmer of its gold.
Up, up into the air I lift my treasure—
It crumbles, falls, and scatters down,
Dust, ashes, on the ground.





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