Tending the Garden of A Suicide Victim
That which is wild and unruly
has overgrown its more civilized companions.
Goldenrod in lackluster brushy plumes
and sour yellow sorrel, tasting of lemons.
Some sad twining vine.
I did not know you.
But I can tell you planted with care,
and what you attempted to cultivate here
was not comprehended
by those who loved you;
and in the pervasive neglect
it seems your vision was lost.
My hands caress the stems of your Rudbeckia,
trying to realign their lanky, desultory forms
where their delicate beauty
was engulfed by choking vines, and I wonder
if better tending would have kept you
in this world a little longer.
I sadly ponder what vision made you leave,
and ask if the slow encroachment of weeds
could have been pruned for you in time.
or if anyone even noticed your need to be tended.
And I hope you can see me here
attempting to give love to your efforts,
trying to make your mark on this world
just a little tiny bit more substantial.
May this garden grow in health for many more years,
and may your children understand, in time,
that sometimes gardens in other worlds
need new caretakers, too.
Marie Anzelone
Biography:
Marie Anzalone currently splits her time between residences in New England and upstate NY in the United States and Guatemala in Central America. Originally from Appalachian Pennsylvania, she spent her early years studying ecology and nature first-hand in the woods around her home. She is an artist, scientist, writer, economics master’s degree candidate, avid outdoorswoman and start-up director of an international development non-profit organization. She has been published in human rights journals, scientific journals, and poetry anthologies. She writes fiction and non-fiction in both English and Spanish. She attempts in her writing to bridge the gap between real world influence and the individual’s inner journey to find spirit and meaning. Anzalone released two collections of poetry in 2014. Her debut collection is called A Pilgrimage in Epistles:: Poems as Letters and Observations. Her sophomore offering is titled Peregrinating North-South Compass Points: Poems in English and Spanish.