The Gardener

Just a poem regarding outside opinions and the growth within.

Silent screams from words
On a screen
Sullied hope squandered
With
Paper airplanes of hope
Folded
Bent
Balled-up
And tossed about.
Like paper-lined pockets
Where people declare
Their purpose
So long as it fits well within
The assortment.

Conformity becomes the
Grand entrance
Where passion goes
By the wayside
In exchange for what is
Deemed fit
By the masses as they chew
On every which
Part of you until you're nothing
More than
An orb filled with bite
Marks from
Every opinion thrust upon you.

A bonsai person cut
And stripped
Peeled away and snipped
Formed to be elegant
With class
Or a tired soul with
The mange
Take the scissors and
Snip
Tear away the parts of me
You don't deem fit
Regardless of each other's
autonomy
And desire to be what
We were meant to be.

"You're doing it wrong",
They say
As I grow my trunk
And sink my roots into the
Soil
Of my own potential that
Had been pruned away
To suit others tastes of
How I should look
How I should be
How I should appear,
And how I should think.

I can rest assured that God
Knows me better
Than I even know
Myself,
Which is far more than
The gardeners tending
To my petals.
Branches like bones
Snap under the pressure
Of what is desired of me.
The armor in which I
Got entangled to preserve
The tender green beneath.
The layers of skin tender
To touch.

So easy to remain strong-
To stay my course and
Grow within.
Each moment, a ring
Upon my insides
To where I can grow while
None can see,
That is,
Until I am
Cut down
And expose the rings
.of my experience.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Strong and wonderful words shared my dear friend. I agree. We are like a rose bush. We need care and concern to become beautiful in late Spring. Hello from Michigan and thank you for sharing the outstanding poetry.
Coyote

[nadia dmitri]

Wow what a poem!!! I was going to point out my favourite lines but I ended up having too many to list, this diction and overarching metaphor is brilliant and beautiful, amazing work :))