Turning from Sink or Stove

Turning from Sink or Stove

 

Turning from stove or sink, I raise my eyes,

Look through the kitchen window – terrace, drive,

The washing line, our old grey wall – and gaze

At lavender, an olive-tree and lovage.

 

Why do I love them? Purple lavender

And lovage green – and tall as hollyhocks,

The olive in its pot: three southern plants –

Thick lavender, young olive-tree and lovage.

 

I like their usefulness – scent, oil and flavour

For stews or salad. And I like their looks –

Bee-ridden, grey-green, with abundant seeds:

The lavender, the olive-tree and lovage.

 

They teach me patience – and they teach me hope.

Year after year returning and reviving –

New stems, new leaves, new seed-heads, life renewed

In lavender, my olive-tree and lovage.

 

I fling a bowl of water at their roots.

Then sniff the lavender and turn the olive-pot,

Pick lovage leaves for taste, give silent thanks

For lavender, for olive-trees and lovage.

 

 

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