“Garden Wisdom” and “MC1R”
– Poetry by Jessica MacLeod –
Featured in issue 15 of Dreamers Magazine
Garden Wisdom
Don’t simply begin
by looking at your plots, your pots,
your fresh earth beds,
figuring how many seeds
to scatter or precisely place,
considering only their various
colours, textures, and sizes.
No, you must look ahead and
come to know
your mid-season effusion and beyond,
a row of basil, fragrant, verdant, and full,
loose, loamy hills of potatoes,
shady sunflower giants,
and delicate tendrils of peas,
eager and overrunning
their delicate rusted racks.
Yes, keep going. Keep looking.
Look right into a November evening.
See light over the dining room table
reflecting bright against black window panes.
Savor a stew of potatoes, carrots, onions, and more.
See the startling dark of boiling beets.
Can you hear the whispering skins of dried garlic and onions
as you tickle through them in the darkness of their box?
Now you dig in,
fingers into dirt.
Now you are ready.
MC1R
my hair began
against the odds, in discomfort
under a glaring sun and
with burning flesh somewhere
in Africa or central Asia
my hair fled
and found solace in
cold, craggy landscapes with
grey skies, cold winds, and rough heather
my hair endures
and catches, perhaps impaling,
delicate snowflakes or jewel drops of rain
my wavy wires of strength woven in
an evolutionary genetic plot
my hair of the highlands and wildlands
coarse copper blazing like
Boudicca’s revenge,
a flame that draws from darkness
the moths of strangers’ looks
and words and exploring hands
my hair the muse
exciting, enticing, and inspiring
the boar bristle brushstrokes of Botticelli,
Titian, Rosetti, and Klimt
my hair that asks
am I your fear
or am I your fetish?
but knows the answer already
About the Author – Jessica MacLeod
Jessica MacLeod is a writer, editor, and book indexer loving life in rural eastern Ontario.
Did you like this poem? Then you might also like:
The Identified Patient
What I want the surgeon to know
Sanctuary, and other poems
The Body as Poem
Metaplasia and other poems
This is What Death Does
Where Courage Lives
The Psychiatric Patient Profiled in My Application
Modern Medical Miracles
What the Mirror Says
Writing Myself Alive: An Episodic Poem
Breathing; Love These Lively Things
Oh Emma; Slow Dancing
In the Mirror, For My Mother
Zenstronomy: Zen of Instruction, Godma, Astrophysical Reality
To check out all the poetry available on Dreamers, visit our poetry section.
Like reading print publications? Consider subscribing to the Dreamers Magazine!
Dreamers Writing Prompt Generator
Experience the power of simplicity with our unique writing prompt generator. Designed for writers who crave spontaneity and surprise, our tool delivers one meticulously crafted prompt at a time.
Top 25 Most Popular Manga Right Now
If you’re searching for the most popular Manga right now, this top 25 list is the ideal starting point, whether a beginner or enthusiast.