Wintergarden

A random garden keeps me
scattered wide and hidden
across gullies and coulees
calm river bottoms
grass and brushlands
familiar foothills
edging up to thin groves
and into thicker forests
roots tangling wild
belowground
trunks, stems and vines
tumbling together above
sometimes blacked and cracked
or soaked and overwashed
in the give and take and gift
of chance flood or prairie fire
and then green restored and
receded each cooling season
but life always holding potent
in the dry hibernating quiet
of saved seeds
dormant roots
sleeping shoots
and secret meanings:
alfalfa against hunger
wild thyme for awareness
cedar for strength
aspen for eloquence
poplar for flying
pine for grace
cypress for comfort
willow for freedom and foresight
cactus for chastity
cattail for lust
birch, rhubarb and raspberry to protect
sagebrush for cleansing
flaxflower for fate
mesquite to clean and heal
sweetgrass to heal and call spirits
sage for wisdom, wishing and calmness
wild wheat and oats for prosperity
corn to divine futures
straw for keeping harmony
sunflower for fertility and power
iris for wisdom and promise
wild strawberry and daisies for luck
poppies for sleep and invisibility
wild grape vine for good magic
thistle for breaking spells and healing
wild onion and garlic for exorcism
ragweed for courage
white lilac for innocence
sweetpea for happiness
clover for fidelity
parsley for celebration and thanks
wild rose for dreaming and love
Indian paint brush for love again
rosemary for love yet again,
and remembrance always
through each sustaining cycle
of uncoiling greenness
and blooming fullness
and the gathering of power
rewrapped carefully
in rich earth browns
to winter and wait
to begin and begin
and begin again.