The Garden (A Collaborative Poem)

Come to the garden, the heart of living souls.
The trees provide their oxygen for thine lungs,
And the flowers make thy nose feel so blessed,
And the sky smiles at the clouds for preparing water.
Oh, thou must look up, and embrace the joy of coming-
The rain keeps the garden flourishing till forever and ever!

But if the rain stops flowing
And the sweet scent of petal-tinged petrichor dissipates,
That is when thou must take matters into thine hands
To ensure the continued thriving
Of those flowers–
Of those trees–
That give the oxygen to fill thy lungs
And beauty to fill thy eyes.
Thou know then what thou must do.

Water them, oh, thou’ll go and fetch 
A bucket of water–
And while I am in the garden,
Thou come back and pour water out on me
From the bucket that thou carry.  

Water the flowers,
Water the trees,
Water thyself,
And water me
And altogether the garden will be
Once again a sanctuary.

For the garden will return
To the time where was all beginning.
Oh, bless the time that dwells for no one
But for the sanctuary.

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Photo by Zane Lee on Unsplash

This was another collaborative poem with my dear friend Ismael Mansoor from This Engrained Heart. His stanzas are in italics. Go check out his blog!

Our other collaborations:

• “Selah”
• “Lighthouse”
• “Sacred Bumblebee”
• “Hygge”

If you are interested in collaborating with me, you can reach out via my contact page, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

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Hygge (A collaborative poem)

Dear everyone, Joy and I wrote this fourth collaborative poem called Hygge. Her writing is in italic and mine is bold.


Hygge tell thee, how is thine comfort zone
Hygge is a personification but a word of name
He tells thee, my comfort zone is empty
For I travel out of it, and never return to it
I am […]

Hygge (A collaborative poem)

Go check out this collaboration between me and Ismael Mansoor of This Engrained Heart!

Sacred Bumblebee (A Collaborative Poem)

The bumblebee is like a sacred one 
That would save the pollination’s world
They show you what needs to be done
The way they did to their pollinations 
I feel like they are a saviour to our world

They allow for new life, for growth, for reborn beauty.
They do their duty for their colony and for the Earth.
Those hard-working magic-makers,
Spreading hope and potential for dahlias and rosemary–
They truly are divine keepers of the circle of life.

Sweet honey is a bee’s saviour to their taste 
And the bumblebee’s sting protects their sanctuary 
As well as shielding their clever and beautiful queen
She instructs them to their heaven’s work
For the sake of our life not alone their lives

Inspiration, too, is a bumblebee
Buzzing around one’s head–protecting its kingdom,
Taking flowery thoughts
And transforming them into fruit,
Giving way to seeds that will sprout anew.

Photo by Michelle Reeves from Pexels

This is the third poem written in collaboration with Ismael Mansoor from This Engrained Heart. His contributions are in italics and mine are in bold. Please do go visit his blog! And, if you want to see what else we created together, you can find our first poem, “Selah,” here and our second poem, “Lighthouse,” here.

Lighthouse (A Collaborative Poem) — This Engrained Heart

Image by J. S. Klingemann from Pixabay This is my second collaborative poem that I wrote with Joy from the Yellow Brick Ave. Joy’s section is in blue and mine is in grey. Our first collaborative poem (Selah) that we wrote together was started by Joy asking me to collaborate the poem with her and […]

Lighthouse (A Collaborative Poem) — This Engrained Heart

Click the link above to check out my newest collaboration with Ismael from This Engrained Heart!

Selah (A Collaborative Poem)

The following is my first collaborative poem that I wrote with Ismael Mansoor from This Engrained Heart! Ismael’s contributions are in italics and mine are not.

I provided the prompt, and Ismael started the writing. After that, we went back and forth with adding pieces to it until we finished. I think that the final product of this poem is very much a mixture of our two different writing styles, and I’m excited to share it with all of you!

Selah

Music, Selah, they went on, Selah, Selah
With lyrical psalms like Proverbs, Solomon
Had chosen the path he sang of Selah
Too many songs to cherish the solemnity

Like him, we sing, “Praise, praise!”
For we have been bequeathed with
the grass, the dirt, the trees,
with the rain that provides life and renewal
to all.
Does not every songbird whistle a tune,
rejoicing for the gift of this land?
So, too, shall we.                                        Selah

Honour thy garden that dwells with thy prayer
Foundation shall water, and recircle of it
Pray, praise to the faith that dwells in ye
Listen to the songbirds and feel the vibrations

Blessèd are those who sit quietly in the moss
and breathe in the scent of the forest.
Blessèd are those who can only take
a moment to witness the verdant splendor
through panes of glass.
And blessèd are those who live in jungles
of concrete and smog.
The pleas for a future
with equitable access to
flora and fauna and fresh air
shall not be ignored or forgotten.               Selah

Selah in the Psalm, oh, they said, who is she
King Solomon, the wise one who was David’s son
Called a name, Selah, oh, they said, who is she
Even the wise Solomon was with the Saviour

Such a word to pronounce such wisdom, but they said who is she
Selah, a musical figure, probably 
Selah, her merry songs that danced Solomon’s weddings
Words to rejoice, oh, Selah, but they said who is she

Alight! Selah is in music. Praise, and rejoice
Sheer the will to smile with songs
Selah, perhaps, personification to melodize
Gentle to the ears and the feelings

Selah of hope and Selah of praise
Selah of wonder and pleading
Lifting up exultation
toward the bounteous heavens
in awe of creation,
all hearts shall proclaim
Selah, her melodious name.

Blessings be upon all the living souls
Oh, blessings be upon those who bless themselves
And who bless others
Selah, in the heavenly place in the soul

Photo by Simon Leonardo from Pexels

I loved this opportunity to collaborate with Ismael on this poem! If you’re interested in creating a collaborative poem with me, reach out through my contact page.

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Today’s resource for love and understanding is this video featuring Leah Thomas talking about the relationship between Black Lives Matter and environmental justice. Leah, a black woman who works in intersectional environmentalism, also runs a blog called Green Girl Leah and an Instagram page by the same name.