Poem of the Day: "Help in the Garden" by Carol Hamilton, Poet of the Month

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present "Help in the Garden" by Carol Hamilton, Poet of the Month.  Ms. Hamilton will also be serving as the guest judge for the Songs of Eretz Poetry Award Contest, which will run from September 1 to October 15, 2015.  A detailed biography of Ms. Hamilton may be found here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/08/songs-of-eretz-poetry-review-poet-of.html.  The contest guidelines may be previewed here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/p/songs-of-eretz.html.

Help in the Garden

Carol Hamilton

He needs it at his age,

all changing as it is autumn.

The crows cry like voices

from the sea at night,

a tanker leaving only

a spread of oil hinting

at colors in the moonlight,

leaving only echoes that pretend

to be calls still there

in the vast, black air.

These squash vines are skeletal,

eaten from within, and the green bean

plants have stubby,

amputated fingers. 

I’m scanning the want ads

as my coffee cools in its mug,

looking for someone to hire ....

someone who might stretch out a hand

and turn it all to order.

Poet’s Notes:  I have no idea whom I was thinking of when I wrote this poem some years ago, but now it might be a poem about myself, as so many abilities and assurances slip away with the passing of time. I find beauty even in the left behind things, like oil slicks, Georgia O’Keeffe’s desert bones, dried weeds.

Editor’s Note:  One of the saddest things in life is to have to let something or someone go when it is time.  This poem reminds me of that, although the speaker seems to take the task with a certain cold aloofness.  "Help in the Garden" was originally published in Miller’s Pond.