Splendor at the Garden

It must be the season of spring that pulls me to the outside, beyond the limits of my writing office and my computer with my creative thesis on it. I will blame it on the beautiful weather that entices me to garden, planting rows of Margold, Better Boy, and Roma tomatoes. Not to mention, the Yukon Gold potatoes, Bush beans, green peppers, and carrots.

In the garden, I push my gloved hand into the soil, making space for the vegetable plants. Then, after placing each plant in the soil, I scoot the topsoil over to cover the block of black soil with little white balls attached to the roots. Its alive! I say to myself as I watch my plant stand in the soil. It is surrounded by the other plants. That garden is my creative thesis.

Will the garden stand the elements?

I tap my finger on the soil. I fertilized and tilled this soil. It is mine. I wrote and edited the essays. They are mine.

The garden has been given all the care it could possibly need to flourish. Yes, my creative thesis the subjective time capsule that it is, has also been cared for throughout these two years of the low-residency MFA Creative Writing program at Converse College.

In the presence of the garden plants, I remember my Grandpa's garden that thrived every year. I recall the way the sweet corn grew high and how the green beans brought a bountiful crop. I smile to myself, knowing that given the right conditions anything can and will flourish.