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When the white sheet is pulled up
over a face, it signals the end.
The doctor writes time of death.
It's final.
Not so in the garden.
White sheets come out as saviors
to tender thin beans, green plump tomatoes,
yellow trumpet zucchini blossoms.
Frost murders summer.
Those who heed weather warnings
take action like nurses readied by codes.
Billowing cotton protectors capture warm,
shroud the stems of the living.
Gauzed until the morrow
sunheat resuscitates.
Ground covers are thrown off.
Plants open their buds, stretch,
resume another day's
moments of growth.
© by Marilyn Zelke-Windau.
Used with the author's permission.
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Marilyn Zelke Windau, of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, started writing poems at age thirteen. A former art teacher, she has had five books of poetry published: Adventures in Paradise, Momentary Ordinary, Owning Shadows, Hiccups Haunt Wilson Avenue, and Beneath The Southern Crux. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her award-winning work can be found in many journals and anthologies. Marilyn includes her maiden name to honor her father, who was also a writer. When she's not writing, Marilyn works at restoring her 1891 house and creates mosaics, paintings, and books made with tea papers. A Master Gardener volunteer and an art center docent, she is married to a retired environmental engineer, has three daughters, and three grandchildren.
     
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Maryann Hurtt:
Love what we think of as opposites. Thank you.
Posted 05/02/2012 09:43 AM
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Linda Muldoon:
I thoroughly enjoyed the twist-- a comparison so obvious and invisible at the same time. Wonderful insight.
Posted 05/02/2012 09:29 AM
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Kay Sanders:
I love the way you turn about our expectations - a sign of ending becomes the means of beginning.
Posted 05/02/2012 09:24 AM
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KevinArnold:
Thanks Marilyn, I'm starting the day with a smile.
Posted 05/02/2012 09:06 AM
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Marilyn L Taylor:
Strong poem, Marilyn.
Posted 05/02/2012 08:48 AM
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dotief@comcast.net:
I love the comparisons in this poem--they show how life and death are intricately intertwined. Great poem!
Posted 05/02/2012 08:39 AM
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Janet Leahy:
I've taken this action several times this cold and windy spring, "shroud the stems of the living," that's a great line!
Thanks, Marilyn
Posted 05/02/2012 06:38 AM
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