The Garden by Lola Ridge

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 30, 2016   The Garden   Lola Ridge

Bountiful Givers, I look along the years And see the flowers you threw… Anemones And sprigs of gray Sparse heather of the rocks, Or a wild violet Or daisy of a daisied field… But each your best.   I might have worn them on my breast To wilt in the long day… I might have stemmed them in a narrow vase And watched each petal sallowing… I might have held them so—mechanically— Till the wind winnowed all the leaves And left upon my hands A little smear of dust.   Instead I hid them in the soft warm loam Of a dim shadowed place… Deep In a still cool grotto, Lit only by the memories of stars And the wide and luminous eyes Of dead poets That love me and that I love… Deep…deep… Where none may see—not even ye who gave— About my soul your garden beautiful.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “The Garden” was published in The Ghetto and Other Poems (B. W. Huebsch, 1918).   Lola Ridge was born on December 12, 1873, in Dublin. Her books include Sun-up and Other Poems (B. W. Huebsch, 1920), Red Flag (Viking Press, 1927), and Firehead (Payson & Clarke, 1929). Ridge died in New York on May 19, 1941.   Photo credit: Esta Varez Poetry by Ridge   Sun-Up and Other Poems (Forgotten Books, 2015) "Sea Violet" by H. D. "A Day" by Emily Dickinson "Vision" by Robert Penn Warren Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038