The Artist's Garden

Sunlit palms and bamboo shoots
Tapioca trees and ginger roots,
My house has a garden
Where morning doves go--
Where ivy and peppermint
And lavender grow.

There is Iris and Jasmine,
Rose and Rosemare,
Papyrus and Onion,
And of course, Aloe Vere.

Along with some Sage,
(Now wiser with age,)
A passion vine towers
With summertime flowers--
It twists and it twines,
Betwixt the grapevines.

But the Boston fern,
Has lost its turn,
Under the calm
Of the pineapple palm.
And the creeping fig,
Has gotten so big
That it makes it all seem,
Like a gardener's dream.

So when you come over
Check out the clover--
Stop and smell the roses.
Then say a prayer,
That the angels stay there,
After the garden gate closes.

Johnathon Gallagher Circa 1986