My garden is a pleasant place
Of sun glory and leaf grace.
There is an ancient cherry tree
Where yellow warblers sing to me,
And an old grape arbor, where
A robin builds her nest, and there
Above the Lima beans and peas
She croons her little melodies,
Her blue eggs hidden in the green
Fastness of that leafy screen.
Here are striped zinnias that bees
Fly far to visit; and sweet peas,
Like little butterflies newborn,
And over by the tasseled corn
Are sunflowers and hollyhocks,
And pink and yellow four-o’clocks.
Here are hummingbirds that come
To seek the tall delphinium—
Songless bird and scentless flower
Communing in a golden hour.
There is no blue like the blue cup
The tall delphinium hols up,
Not sky, nor distant hill, nor sea,
Sapphire, nor lapis lazuli.
My lilac trees are old and tall;
I cannot reach there bloom at all.
They send their perfume over trees
And roofs and streets, to find the bees.
I wish some power would touch my ear
With magic touch, and make me hear
What all the blossoms say and so
I might know what the winged things know.
I’d hear the sunflower’s mellow pipe,
“Goldfinch, goldfinch, my seeds are ripe!”
I’d hear the pale wisteria sing,
“Moon moth, moon moth, I’m blooming,”
I’d hear the evening primrose cry,
“Oh, firefly! Come, firefly!”
And I would learn the jeweled word
The ruby-throated hummingbird
Drops into cups of larkspur blue,
And I would sing them all for you!
My garden is a pleasant place
Of moon glory and wind grace.
O friend, wherever you may be,
Will you not come and visit me?
Over fields and streams and hills,
I’ll pipe like yellow daffodils,
And every little wind that blows
Shall take my message as it goes,
A heart may travel very far
To come to where its desires are,
Oh, may some power touch my ear,
And grant me grace, and make you hear!
Louise Driscoll
from: The Family book of Best Loved Poems
edited by David L George
1952
I have missed you!
I hope this poem brings you as much joy as it does me.
Some poems are like hands reaching through time to convey a very special gift. Louise Driscoll does it exceptional well in this poem. She is “granted” the grace and I am made to “hear”.
I rejoice in your victories. So many are so dull they do not see even the ones they have so easily.
“Blessed be the LORD GOD, the GOD of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.” Ps 72:18
” ‘only’ doeth wondrous things.” We have look,really look, really listen. It’s all very wonderous.
It should not surprise me you are a poet. Remember I told you the thing I noticed most about you, was your way with “words”. You handle them like an artist. Praise GOD!
Enough said for this evening.
One who delights in the HOLY ONE, she praises,
Lillie
But you know, it’s odd: I cannot bear being read to now! I’m a very visual person, and it just works better for me to see the words in print. Or maybe something else is the reason.
Are you familiar with this website:
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/
If not, you might wish to glance through it. It’s a collection of spiritual poems, from all faiths, I think. The website owner, Ivan Granger, is a poet himself.
Cheers,
Pat