the garden’s ancient walls are low and broken
and thus (yes, “even at my age”) easy
to scale. they say this was a garden goethe
adored. i see him 1: helichrysum,
angelica (whose name reminds him of . . . )
and focused: 2 genus, species, love.
i’m sure he knew that 3 is the tree
that marks italian 4, death
5 in the dark green spears that gesture
toward heaven. i 6 : crisp vetiver,
grapefruit and orange so 7 that i’m thrust
back to another garden, where i learned
of bitter oxymoron in the sweet
and 8 fruit he fed me, piece by piece;
the faintly musky warmth of his embrace;
the ancient stone walls 9, and my trust.