Jeremy Radin
A Lover
Gardening on a moonful night, veiled
in pale petals. Which longing
is the true, the proper longing?
Nearly four decades gathering moss
onto my shoulders, & time lost
track of me in its terrible shell. No--
I was never going to be a conqueror.
All I wanted was a bit of shade, a bed to fill
with peas & radish & cabbages.
Now, hands plugged like electrical plugs
into soil, to the moonlight I release a whisper--
it travels up the beams, makes a blusher
of the moon. In the next life, yes, I was
a lover, & in the last--
but not here. Not yours.
in pale petals. Which longing
is the true, the proper longing?
Nearly four decades gathering moss
onto my shoulders, & time lost
track of me in its terrible shell. No--
I was never going to be a conqueror.
All I wanted was a bit of shade, a bed to fill
with peas & radish & cabbages.
Now, hands plugged like electrical plugs
into soil, to the moonlight I release a whisper--
it travels up the beams, makes a blusher
of the moon. In the next life, yes, I was
a lover, & in the last--
but not here. Not yours.
Jeremy Radin is a writer, actor, teacher, and extremely amateur gardener. His poems have appeared (or are forthcoming) in Ploughshares, The Colorado Review, Crazyhorse, Gulf Coast, The Journal, and elsewhere. He is the author of two collections of poetry: Slow Dance with Sasquatch (Write Bloody Publishing, 2012) and Dear Sal (Not A Cult, 2022). He is the founder and operator of Lanternist Creative Consulting, through which he coaches writers and performers. Follow him @germyradin