[Samwise]

This just came to my mind this morning. Hope no one minds my posting it.

The Gardener

There he is
on his knees
long-fingered hands
again in the soil.
Sweat makes greying curls
stick to his brow
but for him, this is not toil.

Daisies, primroses, many flowers surround him
for him, to represent his little girls
most are grown now, and have left home--
to seek their place in the world.

The sun is setting and the gardener stands
breathing the scented air
still keen, yet sad eyes look toward the sea
and a tear falls at the thought
of the friend who left him there.

The friend announced he would be leaving
and then the gardener cried,
"Please, master, take me with you!
I must be by your side! "

"No," his dear friend answered, smiling;
"I know you're tried and true
but this journey I must make alone
it is not yet time for you. "

As the sun disappears from the garden
the gardener picks up his tools.
Tears spill from his eyes
and fall to the ground in pools.

Yet, there's a smile
on the gardener's face
for he knows that one day
he'll be by his friends' side again
and then--neither of them would stray.

Copyright 2002 Stacey Uffelman