It doesn’t always have to be
the way we picture it,
what we expect.
It just changes our minds
and the world keeps right on spinning.
There are gardens
of things that defy imagination,
kept in comfort from you
and your wild mind.
For even in conceiving of them,
you would change then,
you would ravage them
with your eager and unprincipled love.
It was never meant to punish,
or curtail you.
You see;
what you don’t know
won’t hurt you,
but what you could know
could destroy us
and leave us sweeping ashes
where our dreams once bloomed.
Never think that we meant
to keep these gardens from you.
It was for us
to teach you to tend them.
To till the soil
and prune the vegetation,
feed and water the life
that dwelled within.
It is us
who failed you,
so we saved you,
by keeping you sequestered
from your fate.
For these gardens
are all that now sustain you.
Without them
you would fade away.
I will teach you
how to live
beyond the garden gate
and which are annuals,
and which perennials,
and which bear fruit.
I will show you how
to get down on your knees
and pull the choking runners
out by their roots.
With time,
you might grow gentle.
With time,
you might steady your hand
and gain a spectrum of vision
that must be had
to tend these gardens.
Until then,
your eyes may never see them,
for the heat of your emotions
is unchecked
and as you stand,
you would only be sweeping ashes.
You can change the world
by how you view it
and what is true
is not always
what you expect.
HG – 2017
