Poetry
Transplanting the Vine
John Horvath
issue three
Out in the barn the owl waits
and I am the mouse in its wet mouth
Remember the owl and the mouse
Remember while gardening gardens
tie down the vines
blue veined root in red blood bed
probes through wet walls toward
fertile channel
there will be fruit to taste
sweet fruit with rich juice
to wet smiles long into winter
the memory of the fruit
is wine sweet wine
turn over the bed, shove the veined root
into new rich soil tight
with waiting for seed,
jealous of topsoil
so often recipient
tie down the vines
the veined root thrives
with its thrusting through
though brown earth clings
as it weakens its thrust
the fruit is the root
the root of the fruit
the root the fruit the vine
the kiss the gardener takes
from his wife enriches him
his digging, his thrust, his harvest
there is depth and the memory of the fruit
is wine sweet wine
to be drunk throughout winter
out in the barn the owl waits
and the gardener dreams
that he is the mouse in its wet mouth
He remembers the owl and the mouse
and the night of his youth
when youth come to its end
He dreams that he gardens
His love is his garden
A farmer’s sore eyes squint at horizon’s
bright line of flush earth meeting empty sky.
He seeks distant odd rogue which, closely
inspected, proves healthiest strain among
stunted runts. Rogue or no, it will die, must
die–conformity breeds conformity.
Father Nature teaches; the farmer learns.
From my point looking toward four horizons,
it is defect and disease I will miss.
I see rogues because I train for largeness.
Disclaimer: A more accurate version of this piece’s layout appears in the print edition.
About the Author
Mississippian John Horváth has published poetry internationally since the 1960s (In Parenthesis, The Write Launch, Streetlight, recently in Quagmire Magazine, Burningword Literary Journal (Best of 2018), Brave Voices (Zimbabwe)). In total Horvath has published nearly 500 poems since the 70’s. After Vanderbilt and Florida State universities, following a bad parachute drop in Iraq leaving him 100% disabled with the VA, “Doc” Horváth taught at historically Black colleges. To promote contemporary international poetry, Horváth edited the magazine at http://www.poetryrepairs.com from 1997 to 2017.
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