ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

 Sometimes we see something in the outer world that is the perfect mirror for what is happening inside of us…

We were wandering through the community gardens in Helsinki—dozens of beautifully cared for plots with little cottages on each. I could not help but admire not only the gardens, but also the determination and care that I knew had gone into them.

It made me think of love.

How it seems as if it should be so simple to tend to a relationship—to nurture it and give it enough energy and time that it might flourish. But it doesn’t always work that way. Does it ever work that way?

The longing to love is simple, but real life can be very messy, and despite our best intentions, we can often destroy the things we thought we were caring for. Though a garden can be contained, love cannot.

Painting by John William Waterhouse

On the Other Side of the Fence

A low fence lined

with wild roses.

Two white chairs

and a round white table.

Scent of a recent

afternoon rain.

Beet greens proud,

crimson veined and tall

and the gooseberries swollen

nearly red.

In this small garden

everything tended.

In me

a longing like that.

~

~Community Gardens in Helsinki by the author~

Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer “is a chanteuse of the heart,” says poet Art Goodtimes. She served two terms as the first poet laureate for San Miguel County, Colorado, where she still leads monthly poetry readings, teaches in schools, leads writing workshops and leaves poems written on rocks around the town. Her most recent collection, The Less I Hold, comes out of her poem-a-day practice, which she has been doing for over seven years. Her work has also appeared on A Prairie Home Companion and in O Magazine, on tie-dyed scarves, alleyway fences and in her children’s lunchboxes. Favorite one-word mantra: adjust. Visit her website here for ideas about writing, and to read her daily poems click here. 

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~