local_library Garden in the Woods

by Helene Lovett

Published in Issue No. 204 ~ May, 2014

My grandmother nestles hair

in her flower beds to ward off

deer, who detest the smell.

 

She pulls the grey threads

from her brush, intending to help birds

as well, who take the strands for their nests.

 

Except for the occasional fox,

few creatures ever visit

my grandparent’s blooming beds

 

because of their house’s

woodland isolation. No other

humans grace the grounds,

 

though the shadows of alders

race across the lawn.

The trees encase the house in shade

 

while their unsung ages ellipse human life-spans.

My grandmother’s hair sprouts

from the earth grotesquely

 

in tufts half-buried by the dirt sprinkled over.

Most of it has yet to be collected by the birds.

 

1

account_box More About

Helene Lovett is an artist, writer, and aspiring scientist. She enjoys exploring themes of biology and psychology in her creative work. Though she does not yet have a degree in anything, she's keen on pursuing science research and creative writing professionally and currently works on arts and science outreach in her home New Orleans, Louisiana.