Peace Garden Poem by Bill Galvin

Her little park bench,
The rhododendron, the foxglove,
Clethra, barberry hedge, the Acadia stone,
And the Buddha contemplating amongst all.

We celebrate her and her talent for natural design,
And her love of planting and creating natural space,
By reuniting her in memory
With souvenirs of my tribute trip to her.

I have gathered icons from across this land,
From places we once together knew,
And we lay them in your garden grand,
Offering them in sweet memory of you.

Desert sands from ancient Canyonlands
Mountain soil from CA and CO
Sand and shell from Carolina
Sand from the Mississippi Gulf
Soil from Uncle BJ’s Texas family grave
Zion red pebbles smoothened by the Virgin River
Bryce coarse gravel of eroding columns of rock
Grand Canyon sand of eons past; juniper berries of present
Red dusty dirt of Monument Valley
Sagebrush sprigs, cottonwood catkins, from Taos, NM
Lavender from sister Sonoma
Small stones, pinyon pine needles, Flaming Gorge
Redwood Forest twigs and soil
Driftwood and sand of Pacific Prairie Creek
Mt Diablo gritty dirt and memory of a strong young woman.

In each of these places
I connected with you;
I handled your lovely locks
And commissioned them to the naturalness
From whence they came,
Whether to earth, sky or water
We all touched you once again, each time,
Remembered our love on earth;
I sometimes cried softly, quiet tears rolling pensively;
Sometimes I wailed toward high heaven,
Yells echoing down empty red canyons,
Or swallowed up by a roaring, thundering surf.
But always I touched you once more
For the last time;
Until I became comfortable with handing you over;
And it became easier to accept
That you have left… for the last time.

You are still in my heart, a part of my being,
Now and evermore.

8-9-2015