Thursday, January 1, 2009

Garden Muse Day: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that the new year brings you health and happiness.

The beginning of a new year is often greeted with optimism. We hope that this will be the year that world peace is finally achieved. This new year, in particular, we hope that the world economy will improve and that those who have lost jobs recently will find new employment. As individuals, we see this as a chance to begin anew, to quit bad habits and start good ones. We are filled with determination to be better people this year and to achieve our goals. 2009 has just begun; anything is possible!

Today is also Garden Muse Day brought to you the first of each month by Caroyln Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago. I was hoping to find a poem that reflected the wishes for a New Year, something that was profound and might inspire you. In the end, though, I couldn't resist sharing a poem I really like and that only gardeners may appreciate.




Winter Promises

Tomatoes rosy as perfect baby's buttocks,
eggplants glossy as waxed fenders,
purple neon flawless glistening

peppers, pole beans fecund and fast
growing as Jack's Viagra-sped stalk,
big as truck tire zinnias that
mildew will never wilt, roses weighing down,
a bush never touched by black spot,
brave little fruit trees shouldering up
their spotless ornaments of glass fruit:


I lie on the couch under a blanket
of seed catalogs ordering

far too much. Sleet slides down

the windows, a wind edged

with ice knifes through every crack.

Lie to me, sweet garden-mongers:

I want to believe every promise,

to trust in five pound tomatoes

and dahlias brighter than the sun

that was eaten by frost last week.


by Marge Piercy




Happy Gardening in the New Year!


(I'm also going to wish in 2009 that Blogger will be more cooperative in its spacing. After numerous attempts to correct the spacing in the second stanza, I give up!)

21 comments:

  1. Very nicely done Rose! Ah the dreams of all gardeners. Happiest new year to you and yours in this coming year. It was off to a great start here-lots of sun and a bit of gardening (winter sowing:)

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  2. Sometimes blogger just has a mind of it's own doesn't it Rose?

    The poem pretty much says it all. I enjoyed it much. Five pound tomatoes, now that is a nice dream!

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  3. Perfect little poem, Rose.
    Right now I would love to see a dahlia brighter than the sun!!

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  4. Rose,

    So glad that you left a comment on my blog so that could find your blog.

    Very nice! I will be a frequent reader.
    Cheers,
    Cameron

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  5. This is a good one Rose. I got a smile out of it.

    I sure understand your disgust with Blogger. It hampers my creative juices often. Grrrrrr

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  6. I could've written that poem, Rose! It was wonderful. Thanks for your contribution and a Happy New Year to you and yours.

    I'm eyeballing a 10 lb. squash.

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  7. How funny just a couple of days ago I also put a picture of all my new seed catalogs in my blog. I am so excited to start planting the seeds I have already ordered. But of course it is way too early.But we can dream!!! I enjoy your blog and watch it often.Happy New Year!!

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  8. Happy New Year to you & yours Rose. A lovely poem indeed. AAwww I remember the tomatoes we use to pick--so big, so good. Mother planted the tomato plants along the side of an old barn in the barn lot. Soooo you can imagine the size of the fruit. The best toms I've ever had. Good ole' days gone forever.

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  9. What a perfect poem to share. The promise of a beautiful spring and summer garden is what we are all hoping for. We shall have to get together and do some dreaming over our seed catalogs!

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  10. Tina, The catalogs started coming in right before Christmas. Now I just have to figure out where to put everything I want:)

    Susie, The spacing on Blogger just frustrates me no end. There must be a trick, but I haven't figured it out.

    Flydragon, The only bright colors I've seen lately are on blogs:)

    Cameron, Welcome, and I hope you do visit often!

    Lisa, It made me smile, too; so true this time of year.

    Carolyn Gail, My dreams are of tomatoes that don't split or with vines that don't wilt:)
    Thank you for hosting Muse Day!

    Lynn, Thanks for visiting--I will have to check out your photo. Right now the only thing that is "growing" around here is the vision in my head:)

    Lola, You've brought back memories. When my father gave up raising the few cattle he had, the barn lot was turned into the vegetable garden. My mother had some prize-winning vegetables, as you can imagine!

    Beckie,Sounds good! Now I just have to figure out what part of the yard I'm going to dig up next. Wonder if my family will work for spaghetti?:)

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  11. Definitely the way I spend my winter months, dreaming of spring through my seed catalogs. I have the same ones sitting on my computer desk right now, lol. Great poem for Muse Day!

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  12. Hi Rose, happy new year to you and yours. What an absolutely delightful poem. I love the line 'Lie to me'. Isn't it the truth? HA

    Frances

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  13. Hi Rose......don't talk to me about spacing.....I have to alter most of my posts, and as you know I am a lazy blogger......

    I love the poem....it brought a smile.....a nice way to start my weekend.

    I think we all hope for world peace.....if only Rose, if only.....

    Unemployment is rising rapidly here and many companies are going into liquidation.....I see bleak times ahead BUT we have been there before, we have got to hang on in there and get through it as best we can.........

    May 2009 hold all your dreams.......

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  14. What a great poem! I won't be able to look at tomatoes in the same way ever again!

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  15. PG, the catalogs are the only way I can get through a long, dreary winter:)

    Frances, Thank you, and yes, I fall for their promises every time:)

    Cheryl, Blogger can be so frustrating at times! As for the economy, I know that things will right themselves eventually; we just have to hang in there.

    Liz, It does make you think before you take a bite of tomato, doesn't it?

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  16. Rose,

    I wish you a wonderful new year. 2008 is one we'd like to forget. I hope 2009 is good for all.

    Happy New Year!

    Mary

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  17. I know EXACTLY what you had to go through with the spacing on blogger, Rose! It happens to me ALL the time. Somehow, I've figured out (all on my own) how to fix some HTML code BUT, I can't explain it to you, tho:(

    Very cool poem...really appropriate, and of course, funny:)

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  18. Rose, I loved the gardeners poem. We have such high hopes in late winter. We will not let the weeds get the best of us. Our plants will be well-watered, and beautifully perfect. No insect would dare enter our garden sanctuary! My garden in my head is always much better than the ones in my yard!

    I have had the same frustrations with Blogger...I finally decided I needed to let go of my desire for perfection...plus, I can't blame Blogger for my typo's and misspellings! LOL!

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  19. Good Morning Rose

    There's an award for you at mine :)

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  20. Great poem. My catalogs have just started to arrive. The garden will never be as beautiful and productive as it is in Januaary.

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  21. Thank you, Mary; 2009 has to be better!

    Jan, HTML code goes way beyond my computer comprehension:)

    MG, Your gardening resolutions sound just like mine! Unfortunately, good intentions often go astray...

    Suburbia, Why, thank you! I'll be over shortly.

    Pat, My vision of the garden is always grander than the reality:)

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