I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

16 October 2011

Not My Calling #BAD11

My garden
looks bedraggled
in the rain.

My one broccoli leaf
flourishing yesterday
is full of holes.

Half the mint
has suddenly turned brown.

I decide 
to keep buying my food.


This is my Blog Action Day post on the topic of Food. I have to hope the situation is not as bad as we fear, since I am such an abject failure at growing my own!


I am also submitting this for dVerse Poetics prompt, taboo subjects. Not that the subject of food is taboo in general, but this politically incorrect treatment of it on Blog Action Day is surely taboo! Shouldn't I be deploring the hunger in the world; shouldn't I be writing poems to encourage Westerners to grow veggies instead of giving up? Shouldn't I at least create a deep and substantial poem instead of this slight piece? I nearly didn't post it for fear of being seen to be shallow and selfish — and this prompt is all about overcoming our fears and writing the truthful poem anyway ... and then sharing it! (Besides, I have already tackled all the big taboo subjects, lol.)
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17 comments:

  1. Claudia16 October 2011 at 07:18

    haha this reminded me when we were living in an old farmhouse and i decided to have a bio garden...and it all turned out wrong somehow despite my big enthusiasm...and then there was this horse and made its way to MY bio garden and well...that was the end...not of the horse but of my gardener career..smiles

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  2. Brian Miller16 October 2011 at 07:25

    i feel the tension of waste...as there are many that go without...true that...nicely done...

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  3. Anonymous16 October 2011 at 07:31

    This put a smile on my face, thanks for sharing your taboo post with us.

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  4. Sheila16 October 2011 at 08:18

    I like it - thanks for linking up :)

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  5. Laurie Kolp16 October 2011 at 08:37

    Poor broccoli... sounds like it belongs with Charlie Brown.

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  6. Mary16 October 2011 at 08:42

    Lots of gardens around here, lots of farm markets in the summer months. Unfortunately they are now coming to an end.

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  7. Anonymous16 October 2011 at 09:08

    I don't have much of a green thumb either, I'll by my food as well. Funny poem

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  8. hedgewitch16 October 2011 at 09:13

    Adroit reasoning on the prompt--and a fine little cautionary tale on gardening. No, it isn't as easy as buying your food.

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  9. Anonymous16 October 2011 at 10:07

    oh my, we're trying to be good green citizens, but alas, we are not properly trained, and must succumb to the societal means of sustenance.

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  10. Anonymous16 October 2011 at 11:13

    Ha! I have a similar garden. The only thing I can count on is zucchini! (Agh.)

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  11. Elisabeth16 October 2011 at 12:14

    Hi Rosemary, I'm new to your blog and taken by your description as a 'passionate crone'.

    I find your poetry in its honest simplicity and powerful imagery very compelling, even on food action day.

    I think poetry can be one of the greatest forces for change imaginable, although the activists might disagree.

    I'm pleased to meet you.

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  12. tinkwelborn16 October 2011 at 13:18

    Ha! you did indeed break a taboo posting this. LOL
    it's a funny piece and I smiled...it's got that human humor piece to it.
    Like it. thanks for posting it.

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  13. Rosemary Nissen-Wade16 October 2011 at 19:54

    Hi Elisabeth, nice to meet you. Welcome back, everybody else!

    Thank you all for the kind comments; it's nice to know the poem works for you and that you accept it as a taboo-breaker. (A bit tame compared with some of the brave pieces out there today in response to that prompt!)

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  14. Maude Lynn17 October 2011 at 02:58

    After the drought killed my garden, I decided to keep buying my food, too!

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  15. Sharon Rose Thomas17 October 2011 at 10:28

    Well written. Nice to read.
    No where to grow food here, got to buy too. But I am not gaining any weight either.

    http://seeworldhere.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/our-world-today-they-know/

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  16. hyperCRYPTICal18 October 2011 at 05:20

    I buy my food too - so much easier.

    Anna :o]

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  17. Pearl20 October 2011 at 01:41

    we garden similarly.

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