I was raised on nursery rhymes, and I loved them, even if they weren’t always perfectly nice. One such rhyme: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary.
Do you recall it?
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
The earliest rendition, according to Wikipedia, was published in 1744 in Tom Thumb’s Pretty Song Book, the oldest printed collection of English nursery rhymes.
While the rhyme supposedly makes reference to either religious concerns or the royals and their troubles, I grew up thinking it was about a little girl who simply knew what she wanted (so people called her contrary). This little girl had a garden, and it was a delightful one. Maybe people were jealous of it; that was what the reverberations of the rhyme seemed to suggest. What I loved most? Her garden was unconventional, even musical.
The other day I was rereading one of Dheepa Maturi’s Poet Laura posts, and this caught my eye:
“But Tweetspeak is not just any space. It’s a garden, one that’s been cultivated with care and planted with varied seeds by attentive stewards. It’s a place of beauty and civility and kindness. I’m so thankful for the opportunity I’ve been given—indeed, entrusted with—to tend a corner of that space for a short time.”
Tweetspeak as a garden. How lovely.
If Tweetspeak is a garden, then poems are its silver bells. Shining, clear-ringing, calling. Not just the poems that we share with you, but also the poems you write and share with us.
Try It: How Does Your Garden Grow Prompt
In the rhyme above, Mary’s garden grows with silver bells, cockle shells, and pretty maids. Pretend that your poem is a garden. How does it grow? What will you plant in it? Share it in the comments. We’d love to read.
Sample Poem
Poem Garden
I count your little rows
and find what I did not expect
to find
for so ruly
a rhyme.
Questions
at the edges
wild hedges
pine cones, river shells,
a piece of driftwood
so heavy, though it looked so
light (I carried it anyway
from the disappearing shore)
blueberries
wine berries
currant berries
that invite
(take us; if you don’t,
who will?)
a touch of contrary
if we’re talking
convention
and
despite the changing
weather
violets everywhere
everywhere.
Photo by Annie Spratt, Creative Commons, via Unsplash. Post by L.L. Barkat.
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Katie Spivey Brewster says
Tweetspeak Garden Poem (from L.L. and Dheepa)
Cultivated with care
planted with variety
tended by thoughtful stewards
A place of beauty
of kindness and civility
Shining, ringing, calling.
Come grow and learn
receive and give
share delight!
L.L. Barkat says
Katie, this is so sweet. Thank you 🙂