Poems by Gary D. Grossman

A Glimmer

Planting a garden is revolution--
hope triumphs over despair. Flower
or veggie—all green comes from a smoothie
of crushed rock and humus—spiked with
nitrogen, phosphorous, and micronutrients.

Even seed anatomy amuses—the coat
that keeps all dry and warm, cotyledon,
the battery for growth, hypocotyl
and plumule--stem and shoot, and last
the embryonic root, the radicle,
linking us to the first revolution.

​Seeds are small packages of optimism.
Decisions that light and warmth will prevail
and jonquils or turnips, lilies or peppers
will rise, one or both. There is hope in
nourishing life besides our own—faith
in clear skies and sun, that spring is the pupa
of summer and summer fall. That hope can
be cultivated more easily than cut down.

Verse-Virtual, June 2022

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Picking Carrots

It’s March 18th and despite the ground
freeze last weekend, our carrots exude
a craving for examination and
evaluation--intoxication
emanating from the bed of orange, red
and purple heads poking up through rollers
of crushed pine bark and black soil.

The secrets of root vegetables arouse me.

Always a hidden story, always a
probability.

Seeds sown last October, but winter’s
wardrobe was unhemmed, cool, and bright
enough to sugar these painted vegetal fingers.

Now feathery leaves weave the spring breeze,
their scent a lurid promise. I pull the
largest bunch, parting a wave of soil—sand grains
dripping off the root. It is straight, thick and
half a foot long—a clandestine happiness,
like holding a new lover for the first time.

Moving through the bed, I hope for more sticks
of orange candy, not crooked roots—sour as
an old bachelor.

I move to the next patch and wonder,
what secrets the earth will whisper?

Last Stanza Poetry Review #10 2022

Gary Grossman’s poetry book, Lyrical Years is available from Kelsay Press, his graphic novel My Life in Fish: One Scientist’s Journey, and his cookbook A Bone to Pick… are available from [email protected]. Website: www.garygrossman.net

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