{"id":3310,"date":"2022-04-22T00:01:54","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T04:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/?p=3310"},"modified":"2022-04-22T08:28:18","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T12:28:18","slug":"szuder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/2022\/04\/22\/szuder\/","title":{"rendered":"A Collection of Poems: Gardens During Rains, Nature Consoles"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Szuder<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gardens During Rains<\/h3>\n

Hiding away in the gardens during rains,<\/span><\/p>\n

a brisk chill with wet pavement invites all,<\/span><\/p>\n

but only the committed will attend.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Few umbrellas float in the distance<\/span><\/p>\n

between trees, setting their sails on<\/span><\/p>\n

expedition slowly, bright colors shaped<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

like upside down radar dishes of faint<\/span><\/p>\n

signals, while everyone with logic\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

has stayed home in front of fireplace\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and giant television screens.<\/span><\/p>\n

A woman in parka before me does nothing\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

but photograph, a young couple are\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

lost in the rose garden, away from\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

nosey friends and prying parental eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

They skip and sing under one umbrella.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then there is the odd group who\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

actually did not bother to check\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

for conditions at all, tip toeing foolishly\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

in shorts and sandals, today’s newspaper<\/span><\/p>\n

draped and soggy over their tan heads<\/span><\/p>\n

on their way back to their cars, then home.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But I, who takes large rainbooted steps<\/span><\/p>\n

with sheer bravado, move forward<\/span><\/p>\n

across the presentation of rare plants<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and incredible foliage splayed before me,<\/span><\/p>\n

all dripping wet and tinted gray due to\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

lack of sunshine for the entirety of today.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ducks float in droplet pebbled pools,<\/span><\/p>\n

wondering at the rhythmic strides<\/span><\/p>\n

us humans orchestrate, without tail feather<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

or bright banded colorful rings<\/span><\/p>\n

around our own rubber necks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The snapping turtles have completely<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

blown the tourist scene in disgust,<\/span><\/p>\n

tucking back into knobby shells when\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

all they wanted was vitamin D\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and a touch of dryness to kiss their heads.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have paid our admission to be here<\/span><\/p>\n

amongst one another, coyly grazing across<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

each others eyesight as if to suggest<\/span><\/p>\n

a brilliance for taking in all this rain<\/span><\/p>\n

for the sake of calm and inner piece\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and a communal shared solitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

The freeways and the hospitals\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

that surround us all buzz with\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

a heated jolt of static cling that\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

burns the bones and makes\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the ground swell with exhaustion.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This spread I stand here before\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

in falling rain, these plants and trees<\/span><\/p>\n

and flowers will have none of that.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They all suck at the muddy grounds,<\/span><\/p>\n

laughing away and shivering at it all<\/span><\/p>\n

like it’s happy hour all of a sudden and<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

unemployment checks have just rolled in.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Nature Consoles<\/h3>\n

We were all so busy crying,<\/span>
\n<\/span>and then came the rains.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The dull gray backed whales<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

of clouds squeeze in.<\/span>
\n<\/span>The freshly saturated concrete\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

begins to smell like raisins,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and footsteps become as gentle<\/span><\/p>\n

as procession paces.<\/span><\/p>\n

This town gets another scrub\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

behind its ears.<\/span>
\n<\/span>I’ve cherished much of mankind\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

but realized I didn’t know everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In my plight to cover grounds,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I opened up my threshold of sympathy\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

to join them all,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and we started to let go together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet nature be the blanket\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

as we tremble and cover our eyes\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

with visions of mountaintops\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

swirled with rich and thick haze. <\/span>
\n<\/span>Roll out your vast and open sea\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

of wavering pathways and\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

tree finger tunnels gripped tight<\/span>
\n<\/span>and true.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nature be the crossing guard,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

though done for the mourning,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

driving off and coming back later\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

when school ends, to usher back<\/span><\/p>\n

across these streets\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the brightened children of nature,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the sacred young tranquilizers<\/span><\/p>\n

of tomorrow’s resurrection.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Szuder   Gardens During Rains Hiding away in the gardens during rains, a brisk chill with wet pavement invites all, but only the committed will attend.   Few umbrellas float in the distance between trees, setting their sails on expedition slowly, bright colors shaped   like upside down radar dishes of faint signals, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spire-2022-issue"],"yoast_head":"\nA Collection of Poems: Gardens During Rains, Nature Consoles - 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