Delmarva Review: Garden by Michael Gazda

Author’s Note: “Garden” began with the woeful state of my yard which I knew needed tending. The thought occurred to me that while my yard was in a poor state to my mind, it was becoming a paradise to the various residents who inhabited it. I tried to capture a heighted description of an idealized garden that had been left untended. I wanted to contemplate that both value judgments and drama are a matter of perspective. 

Garden

RAIN FELL ON CLOVER as ivy pushed apart fence slats and roses choked the gate. Grass obscured the path and oranges rotted on the ground. The rain stopped. A snake slid beside the fence, weaving through the ivy, as a rabbit sat in the clover with ears raised. Robins perched, scanning for worms driven from the earth, and sparrows chirped in song. Aphids sucked sap from hollyhocks, and beetles devoured rose petals. A snail labored through the grass knowing the robins would have him if spotted. The snake slithered under the fence and disappeared. The rabbit’s ears lowered, and it began munching the patch of clover. The sun sank and a cricket choir erupted as earwigs emerged to feast on dahlias and chrysanthemums. A lightning bug blinked, others joined, the air glittered. Everyone who walked past the garden thought it was abandoned. 

♦ 

Michael Gazda lives and writes in Austin, Texas where he is a software engineer while studying creative writing through the Harvard Extension School. He was raised in Pennsylvania and lived in North Carolina, Boston, and Ireland. His work has appeared in the Epoch Press Literary Journal. 

Delmarva Review publishes evocative new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry selected annually from thousands of submissions locally and nationally. Designed to encourage outstanding writing, it is an independent, nonprofit literary publication. Financial support comes from tax-deductible contributions, sales, and a grant from the Talbot Arts Council with funds from the Maryland State Arts Council. Website: DelmarvaReview.org.