Ann Thornfield-Long
Fertile
He bloomed inside me
a blush-red flower
I learned to nurture,
water, mark the time
twixt curling leaf
and overdose
of yellow-green.
I was good soil.
The Gardner called me
from dust to loam,
meadow-home,
infused with molding clay
and rimmed with stone
to contour a cape
a place to graze.
Sweet-sprouted seeds
round posts entwine,
incline and curve
shaping words, verses
an alphabet
of faith
profusely flourished
with affection,
nourished.
He bloomed inside me.
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Ann Thornfield-Long is a co-author of Tennessee Women of Vision and Courage (2013 Crawford and Smiley), was Editor/Publisher of The Norris Bulletin for six years, has published in Artemis Journal, Riddled with Arrows, Abyss and Apex, Wordgathering, The Avocet, Haiku Journal, Pigeon Parade Quarterly, Silver Blade, Number One, and other journals and anthologies. She has been nominated for Best of the Net, Pushcart, and Rhysling Prizes and won the Patricia Boatner Fiction award for her novel excerpt. She lives in East Tennessee and is a student of American Sign Language.
Backstory: I have a fascination with stories about planting: Jack and the Beanstalk, the Parable of the Sower and Deborah Levine’s story about planting marbles. What grows when I braid a planting story with other experiences like investment, pregnancy, a spiritual experience or doing a good deed?
Image credits: Blue rose and red heart (clipartmax.com)
