We thank Janis for her wonderful and very relevant poem – we are honored to share it! Janis has degrees in History, Women’s Studies and English from the University of Central Missouri and a Master’s Degree in Library Science from the University of Missouri at Columbia. She has lived numerous places in the United States working as a Reference Librarian and an Adult Programs Librarian. Retirement brought Janis back to Warrensburg, Missouri where she is a volunteer extraordinaire and has resumed her attention to writing her poetry. She welcomes your positive waves as she returns robustly to her love of poetry! This poem is dedicated to a former resident of the Warrensburg Missouri Veteran’s Home and Master Gardner, Nan Shaw. There is purposely little punctuation in this poem so that it feels like the viewer’s eyes are scanning the garden in one long gaze. (Note: Not only are all parts of the Linden Tree edible, including the leaves, flowers, seeds, sap and bark, but an herbal tea is made from the dried flowers. And, in fact, there was a time when people believed that linden flowers were so useful in treating tremors that any individual enduring this medical condition could be cured just by sitting beneath the tree.)
Veteran Home Window
he looks out & sees nothing
barren ground another window
he’s seen plenty
he craves distractions, yes,
but deserves beauty
& peace
his wife, a Master Gardener,
plots his escape
plants a linden tree
where honey bees sip & hum
among the fragrant spring blossoms
& birds play safely all year
he looks beyond the tree to
drink in the deep purple flower spikes
of a May Night Meadow Sage,
Salvia slyvestris,
that entices birds & butterflies alike
but never rabbits or deer
he must stand up to see
the piece de resistance of lilies
stately Stargazers
that hug the ground ’round the linden,
vibrant pink-spotted flowers,
their faces blooming upwards
facing the cosmos
it’s nearing dusk
he sits, wheels his chair to capture
a last look at his white butterfly bush
Buddleia davidii,
with strong stems laden with
flower heads shaped like lilacs
bending sideways as in prayer
their sweet nectar lures bees, butterflies
& hummers during the day,
but the shrub virtually shines
on summer nights,
pulling in hungry moths
that use the angle of the moon
to navigate a straighter flight
he says good night