Into The Garden I Went Poem by Sadaf Aslam

Into the garden I went

Into the garden I went looking for color

She gave me ruby reds and pretty pinks
And hues of blues and indigo inks

She set her orange jewels upon the jewelweeds
And gave me golds and purples, fit for the queens

She gave me earthy browns. They soothed my skin
My arms, my legs, and some things deep within

Into the garden I went looking for sound

She gave me the buzzing bees, and the rustling leaves
And the ‘chick-a-dee-dee dee dee' of the chick-a-dees

A cricket, a frog. A mouse scurries along
A robin takes a bath. A cardinal sings a song

The babbling of the brook, the pouring of the rain
The wind that is voiceless, softly says my name

Into the garden I went looking for a story

The ferns and the fungi had ancient tales to tell
What happened when the first acorn fell?

How do fireflies carry their little lights?
How do bloodroots bloom into pure whites?

Why is sweetgrass braided into a rope?
Why do raspberries grow as stubborn as hope?

Into the garden I went looking for myself

She showed me my reflection in the morning dew
And I saw.. just like the others, I was her child too

She said, 'Grow amongst the asters. You'll find all you need.
A single seed of kindness gives seven hundred seeds'

So I looked behind the rose bush and inside the weasel's hole
And hiding under a rotten log I found my very soul

Into the garden I went looking for you

I had color and sound, and a story to share
I had my love to give, but you were not anywhere

You've gone missing on the highway of tears
Lost in the wilderness, of darkness and fears

For power or money, cast or creed
Hunts his prey, a civilized beast

Your body is beaten, blue and black
Your hands are chained behind your back

But

Around your neck, you wear the key
to the garden where the olives grow

And on moonless nights, you dream of fields
where white and silver sages glow

So sunflower seeds, and your memories
into the garden I will sow

Searching for you, and waiting for you
Into the garden I will go