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Planting Season

by Margarita Engle
Man of dust, wife of bone, banished, hungry,
ready to pierce thirsty soil with sharp sticks.

Heart of earth, the man dreams of a return,
but angelic beings and a flaming sword
are stationed along the eastern perimeter,
the tree of life surrounded.

The man of dust and his wife of bone are newborns
walking around in grownup bodies, so many simple lessons
never learned, only a few dreamlike garden memories treasured--
walking in the cool of the day with a father,
the absence of longing, an abundance of fruit.

Now comes this strange gift of seeds,
the mysterious shapes and secretive contents,
an invented ritual of digging, then covering with soil,
like bones of the future under blankets of dust,
and a vigil, the long wait--seedlings, growth, understanding...


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Copyright © 2006 by Margarita Engle. All rights reserved.