The Garden in a Ghetto

The Garden in a Ghetto



I found pebbles

tiny pinched trails
trenched in shifted sand;

each roll a wish,
a dream,

a reminder
of planted seed
and hope for more.

          Pride masked
          liquid pools
          in lifted eyes.


Yet, such faded stare
    grieved the unachieved;
          knew fruition
              would have been seized
but for water restrictions
    stuffed beneath bureaucracy
          grouped behind numbers
              and social abnormality.


Blooms are sparse
in an untended garden.

Soil retaliates
as my tiny spade
feathers top layers,

begins to accommodate loosened laminate,

gently nourishes
and softens calloused edges.

Eyes embrace equilibrium
while traces of rolled rock,
 
rounded, smoothed -

take hold
and ripple water with quiet anticipation.