Marianne Brems

 Perfect, Scented, Silent
 
As a hub of color,
dispenser of oxygen,
this garden opens its face
to a needy world where
checks bounce and traffic stalls.
 
A delicate blanket of silence as powerful
as a forest fire settles lightly over me,
an edge smoothed in my chest
as I absorb a delicate language
all its own.
 
It’s the giving,
perfect, scented, silent,
asking nothing in return,
that sustains hungry bees
and my own inner asylum.

Marianne Brems is the author of three poetry chapbooks, the most recent In Its Own Time (2023). Her full-length collection Stepping Stones is forthcoming in 2024. Her poems have also appeared in literary journals including The Bluebird Word, Front Porch Review, Remington Review, and Green Ink Poetry. She lives, cycles, and swims in Northern California. Website: www.mariannebrems.com.