Childhood’s distant garden held
Readable roles:

Father, mother, brother, sister,
Uncle, aunt, teacher, friend,
Distant relative or stranger.

Each hand was browned by the same soil;
Carrying a recognizable smell,
Digging, tilling, sowing and cultivating
Towards a shared harvest.

Look at me now:

My hands quaking over a small patch of land
Growing
Exactly not the right amount
To feed the day.

I should have stayed

But time’s currents tired my hands.
How far I’ve drifted away.