Poem
“The making of a garden requires the same kind of ruthlessness as the making of a poem.”
– Stanley Kunitz
it was sometime after dark
when my friend’s doctor came in:
the patient has the final say
clearly, she did
then the hours into that night brambled
their ruthless silence
clinging to bed sheets
beneath her dying
yet there were also the simple moments—
we talked . . . how we would like to die
when the doctor turned to leave
sunny day in my garden
face down embracing the earth
she said
such is poem making
ruthless and certain as death
-Originally published in The Stauros Notebook, Vol 27 No. 2 Summer 2008
Sister Lou Ella Hickman, OVISS has published many poems and articles. Her book of poetry entitled, she: robed and wordless was published in 2015 by Press 53. She lives in Corpus Christie, Texas.