3:15 Experiment Poetry 2010: She like them

A Poem from the 3:15 Experiment
August 4, 2010

Gardening. Night blooming jasmine.
Cecil Bruners roses. Begonias.
Nasturtiums. Sweetpeas.
These were a few of my mother’s favorite flowers.

She like them had a strong sense of smell
my mother
Hated cilantro. Complained about it
vehemently.

I bought 3 gardenia plants last year
gave her one. Mine are blooming
but she seems to have lost
hers, lost it to her
brown thumb

She had no patience for
growing things
the simple joys of gardening
that claimed her grandmother
& her father & her daughter
as ardent practitioners
was not for her

She preferred someone else
to grow her blue cherokee tomatoes
crookneck squash
sweet smelling flowers
and so I did

It was beyond her why
I bothered to plant & grow cilantro
that effort better spent
elsewhere growing what
she appreciated:

night blooming jasmine
sweet peas
nasturtiums

I’ve been doing the 3:15 Experiment since 2001. Most years, I follow the rules and I don’t look at what I’ve written until the month is over. This year, my mother died July 30, the night before this year’s experiment was to begin, so I decided to post some of my 3:15 poems as they are written.

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