poem from MMM - Tucson ache

Fall in My Garden

For Danielle and Shelly         

October

into November—

my favorite time

in the garden.

Here in the desert,

it’s when I feel

most connected

to the earth.

           

The light softens

and turns golden

as the sun lays lower

in the bluer sky

as it travels

through the day.

The harshness of light

is gone

until June returns.

Like the plants,

my breath deepens—

and slows.

[...]

When I move inside my house

in December—

away from my garden—

a gathering-in happens for me.

I pull the edges of my life

up around me,

only going out

to visit my plants

onthe warmest

of the winter days.

Mary Martha Miles

October 2012

Tucson, Arizona