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Ode to a community leader |
<center>THE PATRON OF THIRD STREET (for Lawrence Martin)</center> Any given day you will find him On the small expanse of his domicile With shears or trowel in hand Tending to Nature’s business He nurtures his botanical menagerie As a mother does a child: Sometimes admonishing Sometimes lamenting Sometimes protecting Sometimes weeding out the undesirable Always loving, always surveying, always attentive This is his corner of the world Season after season we watch with childlike anticipation To see what magic he will make: Where there was once barren earth - Now the crimson of the hibiscus, the variegated shades of green, Powder blue hydrangea, scarlet geraniums Every bush carefully trimmed, every blade of grass neatly manicured He nurtures his people as he does his flowers Watering and fertilizing our withering souls He mobilizes each fledgling – placing them ever so carefully Helping to awaken us from dormancy He directs us to the sun Giving us the nutrients we need to survive Should winter takes its toll This is his corner of the world Each season a different garden, a different challenge He has seen it all, now And longs for the day when he can pass the patronage to the next generation of nurturers Then he can sit back and offer blessings to Grace for enabling him to have borne forth fruits abundant Until then, each season we watch with childlike anticipation To see what wonders he will make ©RAM/2002 |