One can seem alone in a garden, but
never lonely, for company abounds:
birds bantering, snails sauntering,
lizards lounging on the back wall.
All these keep me company and
provide ample distraction from
my own thoughts turned inward.
There are dashes of color which
dance across my field of vision
as I turn my range of focus.
Sounds, sights, smells abound.
Each of these bursts perfumes
its own sense receptors, creating
a cordant harmony during my
brief sojourn to the backyard.
BIOGRAPHY: Rick Hartwell is a retired middle school English teacher living in Southern California with his wife of thirty-five years (poor soul; her, not him), their disabled daughter, one of their sons and his ex-wife and their two children, and eleven cats. Yes, eleven! When not writing he wishes he were still pushing plywood in Coquille, Oregon.
