In My Father’s Garden - Carolyn Tipton

[Larry Robinson]

In My Father’s Garden

			      “Unwatch’d, the garden bough shall sway..."
									       - Tennyson



The unusual blue hyacinth came into bloom
unnoticed, and now the apple tree surprises me:
already in full flower.
The daffodils he planted here last fall
have all come up, bright gold in the March dusk.
He has had to leave his home, go
elsewhere to be cared for, and I’ve 
come back here to look in on his garden.
Does the camelia care there’s no face at the window?
Do the birds in the branches miss the one who watched them?
Does it matter to the tulips that they opened up, then
faded, unappreciated and unseen?
For fifty years, his eyes admired this garden, every flower;'
I might expect to find their imprint on these petals.

	- Carolyn Tipton