garden - Blogs - Depth Psychology Alliance2024-03-28T15:58:54Zhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/gardenIn the gardenhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/profiles/blogs/in-the-gardne2014-07-15T21:30:00.000Z2014-07-15T21:30:00.000ZSilvia Behrendhttps://depthpsychologyalliance.com/members/SilviaBehrend<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9142448085,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9142448085,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="244" class="align-full" alt="9142448085?profile=original" /></a></p><p></p><p>In the garden</p><p>I bury the remains of the mothers -</p><p>The fish whose bones line the roots of my tomatoes-</p><p>That is how I pray</p><p> </p><p>I kneel in the soft earth and look</p><p>Through the lattice of dark green leaves</p><p>There, yellow as buttercups in the sun,</p><p>Incipient fruit</p><p>Await the annunciation</p><p> </p><p>I can already sense the bulging clusters</p><p>I take my well-sharpened scissors</p><p>And make space for the new life</p><p>Carefully pruning away the excess</p><p>To leave the essential</p><p> </p><p>Isn’t it so with life?</p><p> </p><p>I did an experiment once</p><p>I let the tomatoes grow wild</p><p>Leaves and suckers,</p><p>Fruit and flowers</p><p>In a profligate jungle</p><p>It was a beautiful mess</p><p>But I didn’t get many tomatoes</p><p> </p><p>Life needs us to tend it</p><p>To feed and to prune</p><p>To discern what hinders</p><p>And what allows growth</p><p> </p><p>It is a science and an art</p><p>that must be practiced each year anew</p><p>You cannot take it for granted</p><p>Each plant needs to be seen for itself</p><p>Not just a tomato plant</p><p>But this one</p><p>With the stem leaning this way or that</p><p>And my job is to sculpt it so its natural way</p><p>Can produce the most tomatoes</p><p>Not only for me and my table</p><p>But for the sheer joy of the plant itself</p><p>"This is how I grow best".</p><p>Me too!</p></div>