A Secret Garden

By marandina

Wed, 24 Nov 2021

4689 reads

26 comments

1 likes

Audio version at https://soundcloud.com/user-62051685/a-secret-garden-mp3

A Secret Garden

Sinking sun creeping lower, stalking horizons,

rays of light fading, pale moon lies in wait,

hopping out of bed, she ever so gently landed

on worn lino and bounced, almost soundlessly.

The little girl shuffled, crept along on tiptoes

as a great, grandfather clock chimed loudly,

stairs had Egyptian-style, patterned carpet,

watching her move, her motion; silent, effortless.

Through a locked and guarded backdoor,

where a dog snored, feet twitching in dream,

out onto grass, silhouetted trees and gravel path,

a furtive journey to an overgrown, brick wall.

On the other side was fate, her fortune,

her future cast in the shadow of her present,

a mere turn of the key and a gentle push

would finally assuage so many imaginings.

And as the egress of wood swung inward,

the child could hear the fluttering of wings,

a land away from the mundanity of life,

eternity trapped in the whorls of infinity.

Before she could finally cross the threshold,

a sleepy father wordlessly closed a story book,

his precious daughter at last asleep, once more

and a fantasy held captive within pages again.

Image free to use via WikiCommons at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardening#/media/File:Forestgarden2.jpg

Comments

1 User voted this as great feedback

This reminds me of a rich,

Permalink Submitted by Jane Hyphen on Wed, 2021-11-24 18:11

This reminds me of a rich, still life oil painting, each time you look at it, you see something different. A beautifully verdant, quiet journey into a dream.

Ah thanks for reading it,

Permalink Submitted by marandina on Wed, 2021-11-24 19:15

Ah thanks for reading it, Jane. It's an homage to "Tom's Midnight Garden" and "The Secret Garden" but tinged with sadness as the little girl is actually a character in a story book and no more. She exists at the whim of the reader. Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. Paul :)

1 User voted this as great feedback

Very sweet, dreamy poem. :)

Permalink Submitted by onemorething on Wed, 2021-11-24 18:20

Very sweet, dreamy poem. :)

Thanks Rachel. It's meant to

Permalink Submitted by marandina on Wed, 2021-11-24 18:32

Thanks for reading it, Rachel. It's meant to be dream-like so glad it comes over that way. Thanks again. Paul :)

1 User voted this as great feedback

I liked the echo of secret,

Permalink Submitted by Di_Hard on Wed, 2021-11-24 18:45

I liked the echo of secret, in the garden and in the fantasy? One hidden inside walls, one inside pages. When you cannot read, a book is all walls and you never find what you are looking for, all the places and people, so frustrating! The sleepy dad in your poem is the key :0) Gently, thoughtfully, letting his daughter into a magical place in her sleep

Ah thanks for reading it, Di.

Permalink Submitted by marandina on Wed, 2021-11-24 18:51

Ah thanks for reading it, Di. I was hoping it would come across as layered and stories within stories so thanks for the reassurance. I kinda like writing with a fantasy theme although Boris seems to be begging me to write more political satire just now. He's going completely bonkers even by his standards...