Looking Forward to Spring -

Medicine Woman, Etching 16x20" © Ruth Zachary

Tomorrow, March 1, is the date I usually set for pruning the fruit trees and raspberries growing in the back yard. I wrote this poem in 2007. Both the image and the poem offer thoughts of healing and hope.

Late Winter Gardening

Spring arrived later this year than last.

Aging makes one grateful for another spring,

and even perhaps that it is postponed.

I too am late in beginning my springtime chores;

trimming raspberries, shaping the flowering crab;

pruning the fruit-bearing apple tree branches.

Culling my own errant branches which have

over-reached my strength to support them,

or that have tangled so dense, they refuse

to let in the light, are tasks for my inner garden.

To preserve those limbs that will bear the best fruit

in a shortened season is my challenge now.

Efficient use of limited energy, water, nutrients;

balancing sunlight, shade, with joy of creative work;

I seek to live as if this were heaven on earth, that

my spirit may grace the path where it has passed.

Paring down to the essence is a new approach

to gardening, a kind of xeriscaping of the soul.

For Those Who Write-

Spring is often a good subject to reflect upon when writing. Remember to notice specific details that occur daily, those which herald the return of the growing season, and hopefully stir inner growth as well. Let the changing landscape become a metaphor for your personal changes.


Images and Writing are the ©Copyright of Ruth Zachary