I was fortunate to take part in the 2023 Airdrie Voice & Vision collaboration. The following is the second piece I wrote in response to Alesha Buczny’s, Unseen Beauty, an art piece, acrylic on board, 16” x 12”.
I’m proud to say our work was featured in the Fall 2023 issue of Airdrie Life Magazine.
Willy-Nilly Legacy
In many places, poppies grow row by row, but I remember my mother’s garden, where they grew willy-nilly. Scattered wherever she tossed the seeds.
Through late spring and midsummer, each poppy’s four petals danced in partnership. Wind touched, reaching toward the sky. As fall arrived, the petals dropped one by one. The heart of the seed pod hardened, leaving a shaker of sorts where seeds stay enclosed, protected, waiting for next year’s splendour.
Mother would pick one, and I’d hold my hand flat as she shook out the seeds. Like pepper, they’d land a teaspoon full in my palm.
Years later, seasons pass. Shades of deep grey winter’s shadows cover the acreage. I discover envelopes nestled away in Mother’s cedar chest. Each one carries her familiar handwriting where she dated and noted the colour of the poppy seeds inside. My gaze shifts toward the window. Outside, buried deep in the soil beneath the snow-covered garden, remnants of tiny stems and wispy shaker pods rest in decay.
Spring freshness greets me as I tend Mother’s garden, pressing her packages against my heart. I open her precious bounty and wait for a tiny breeze as I scatter the seeds. Come summer, I’ll watch the petals dance in the sun, wind, or rain. In the crisp fall air, I’ll collect their hard casings. Her seeds become my legacy.
You may see me dance amongst the poppies, letting the sun kiss my face and the breeze stir my soul as I remember Mother’s Garden where the poppies grew . . . willy-nilly.