This season is for walking in the cool of the garden.
For listening to the cardinals sing love, happy,
Soon and very soon, a hymn of increase
Of rebound, of comeback, of justice
Eternal. Forty springs is a kindness,
A testament that trouble don’t last long.
Winter, shorter now, still seems long.
We plant, we wait to sow the next garden.
The ground beneath the knees is a kindness.
Perennials, they say, volunteer to return happy
For those who plant one time. Justice,
Jesus said. At least there will be increase.
But spring is not always about increase,
Celebrating what we’ve waited for so long.
Not the fair season for all equal justice.
Tares grow beside the flowers of the garden.
And what is spring but a fight to be happy,
A dirty rebellion for earth’s simple kindness.
And to whom do we repay this kindness
To show stewardship of this increase?
Blessed are those–a version of happy.
Mercy endures forever, grace as long
As the cool intended walk of the garden
Before any need for justice.
What the world needs now is justice
Planted like the nine fruits, of which kindness
Growing by love, joy, and peace in the garden
Of our hearts, would show increase
In patience, goodness, and faith as long
As the word is alive in us, He calls us happy.
That’s it then. Spring calls us to be happy,
Despite life lacking equanimity or justice,
Despite the warming winter still too long.
We must, like a cardinal song, sow kindness
Before perennials voluntarily increase
It is our duty, now, to tend the garden.
We don’t know how short or how long
The assignment, just that blessed–happy–
Is a chance to walk in the cool of the garden
A chance as fair and full of justice
As a life filled with returning kindness
And Glory to God, the increase.
