The Gardener Next Door, by John Grey

The man digging

in his back-yard

inspires your story.

 

To your creative tongue,

starting a garden

becomes burying his wife.

 

As your tale goes,

months after the last load

of dirt covers her face,

melons grow to the size

and shape of her head,

ripe red tomatoes bloom

the color of her blood,

potatoes stare up

out of the soil

with her unforgiving eyes.

 

No good 

killing and burying someone,

in these parts, 

you figure.

You never know

what you’ll harvest.

Image by Goumbik from Pixabay

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John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in Front Range Review, Studio One and Columbia Review with work upcoming in Louisiana Review, Poem and Midwest Quarterly.