Botanica

 

A good poem is like a Japanese garden.

Each phrase is a carefully-placed stepping stone

That invites you to pause and admire

The unexpected words which catch your eye,

Each as breathtaking as an exotic flower.

If you could smell a poem,

It would tickle your nostrils with

Memories of a precious past, as well as

Fantasies of places you’ve never been.

Each time you revisit a good poem,

You notice changes - of season, of sunlight,

Of random breezes. It is the same garden, but

It will continue to reveal more of its vitality

Each time it welcomes your return.

Shelia