“when she bedded her zinnias”

For NaPoWriMo: Day 30 – Final Poem
http://1sojournal.wordpress.com/

Stepping Stones
Photograph
by
Elizabeth Crawford

…when she bedded her zinnias…

Stood off to one side
clapping hands
as she rooted memory
in rich moist soil
of fertile mind.

Tapping roots of that
other garden meant
to trap, to cage seeds
of soul in darkened soil
of hard cold rage.

Instead, nurtured words
until they were rooted,
setting me free to bring
them to fruition, marking
stepping stones in present moments.

Learned just enough
to know, I know nothing
of bedded zinnias.

Elizabeth Crawford  4/30/16

Process Notes: Title is a line (per prompt) from Brenda’s poem titled Broken Water. Which may be found here: https://undercaws.com/2016/04/28/broken-water/

When I wrote up the prompt, I had something entirely different in mind, but realized, even as I wrote it that I wanted a line from Brenda’s poem because it marked a realization in my own writing process. It struck a very deep cord in me. Had me remembering that long ago garden, essentially created to keep me busy, to control both my time and activities. It didn’t have the desired effect. Brenda had taken a very distressed moment and turned it into creative healing. For me, that is the most important aspect of any creative endeavor. While I tilled, weeded, harvested, canned and froze all the produce from that other garden, I had no choices about what went into that larger every year containment. But, while my hands were busy, my mind was free to create stories, poems, things I wanted to write. And that word garden allowed me to finally walk away from the trap being built around me. I firmly believe that we writers create ourselves, and our own path, one word at a time. This past month of writing a poem a day once again made me realize that belief. I can only thank Brenda for being one more of the stepping stones in my ongoing path. I think I might have just ‘bedded’ my zinnias. Pray they take root.

Personal Musical Inspiration: