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# The Gardener
- URL: https://www.hawkword.com/poetry/the-gardener/
- Published: 2023-03-18T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-03-18T12:00:00.000Z
- Description: A crimson rose demands to know my name. Incredulous, I ask her why it matters, or does she think all humans look the same? I start to tell her but attention scatters.
- Author: A. Gee
- Tags: Poetry, Sonnet, Allpoetry Import, #Import 2026-04-25 19:56

A crimson rose demands to know my name.  
Incredulous, I ask her why it matters,  
or does she think all humans look the same?  
I start to tell her but attention scatters.

Another soon chimes in: how old are you?  
Who'll water us when you're no longer present?  
I bend to tie a shoelace on my shoe.  
The earth, dug raw, more pungent than unpleasant,

as welcoming as ever. It remains  
the one connection to the dust I came from,  
the ashes of the fire in my veins...  
The rose bush is persisting in its tantrum:

Who's going to take over when you're gone?!  
The monument's for two. I was the one.