UNDERGROUND GARDENS
Around here
we choose to believe
they were excavated block by block
one man's pick and shovel
carving an impossible
gift of love
from nothing but hardpan
a gift for the sweet homesick bride
who longed for the fragrance
of citrus
in Italy.
The truth is
he wasn't even married at the time
and the ground was simply too stubborn
for the tender roots
of fruit-yielding trees
so he had to reach
softer layers
of soil.
And frankly
in August daily life was so parched
that the image of a deeply grooved
home in the earth
was appealing as a place
to cool off, drink wine, grow flowers, daydream
planting rootlets of possibility
a maybe-someday love
imagined.