Holy Ground
by Mary Folkerts
HOLY GROUND
I.
White winter
blankets the soil
where I bed my dahlias and onions.
Thick drifts, chest high
thrown by wind’s
creative hand
lie unmarred by critter’s feet
and hungry deer,
in search of last year’s
offerings.
Snow mounds on
brittle hydrangea heads
nodding submission
in the bitter breeze—
this too
shall pass.
II.
Its stubborn grip
holds no match for the
gentle strength of the
warming sun
sunken drifts,
forming rivulets
creating pools
returning deep
into the earth, leaving
muddy footprints where the
children splashed,
and the poke of the first
green fiddlehead
emerges
declaring victory.
III.
The incessant morning chatter
of birds, declaring
their joy in the dappled shade
serenade me—
watering, weeding,
digging, tending
before the heat of high noon
droops the
delicate ranunculus
and I.
This dirt,
this holy ground
where I kneel,
that births both thistle
and rudbeckia—
like I—
it tethers me to the Gardener
as He moves through the roses
and the cosmos,
breathing a fresh wind,
lifting my eyes to
the colors He’s splashed
across the western horizon,
in wild joy—
an artist
leaving his signature.
IV.
The leggy petunias
and the yellowing daylilies
speak of wearied joy,
while the aster shakes out
her pretty dress, revealing reds
and purple.
All in their time–
the wilted potato vine
bows its head to the golden corn
standing tall, its silken stocks
swaying in the autumn
breeze,
the V of geese calling
their farewell.
V.
This garden of seasons, where
tenacious hope springs
eternal,
where persistent warmth
holds power over harsh,
bitter winds
and tiny seeds produce
a cornucopia of harvest
and lessons–
like how dying comes
before birth,
unchecked weeds
beget more,
and a well-watered tree
grows roots
deep enough
to stand against the battering
winds.
This partnership of
unequals,
where I tend a flower
and He
my soul.
MARY FOLKERTS
Mary Folkerts is a mom to four grown kids and wife to a farmer, living on the southern prairies of Canada, where the skies are large and the sunsets stunning. Mary writes with a desire to push back the dark, especially for those struggling with anxiety and depression. She is also an advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as their youngest child introduced them to this extraordinary new world.