2011 garden poetry contest winners
Donald Allen organic gardener and poet, works in his garden in Amity Harbor. (May 27, 2011) Credit: Heather Walsh
Last month I asked readers to reflect upon the last growing season and submit a poem celebrating (or lamenting) their garden’s performance during the miserable drought of 2010. I received heartfelt odes, sarcastic sonnets and comedic compositions that embodied the theme, Better Times Ahead. Though it may sound cliche, it actually was extremely difficult narrowing the field to just three winners, as I can honestly say I didn’t read one poem that wasn’t worthy of a mention.
Donald E. Allen of Amity Harbor gets top honors and a quality gardening tote from Scotts Miracle-Gro filled with lots of goodies, including Shake ’n Feed all purpose plant food with moisture control; Shake ’n Feed tomato, fruit and vegetable fertilizer; TouchUp weed control, Ortho elementals home insect killer, Miracle-Gro watering can singles and more. Dana Lynn Zotter of Holbrook wins Tomato and Pepper Automator trays from Burpee, Ortho elementals 3-in-1 rose & flower care, Shake Away deer repellent, Miracle-Gro orchid food and watering can singles. And Lorraine Wodhanil of West Islip earns Shake ’n Seed Sedum Dragon’s Blood ground cover seeds and Miracle-Gro singles. Everyone else gets a Garden Detective high-five. Nice work!
GRAND-PRIZE WINNER
Donald E. Allen, Amity Harbor
Do it again
Please don’t tell me of better times ahead.
When all around me half my plants are dead.
Blame global warming, El Niño, or sunspot.
My garden stinks, my tomatoes have end rot.
I need to buy manure, and dehydrated bone.
When I finish buying all that, what I’ll need is a loan.
That was the story of two thousand and ten.
But like fools and their money, now we’ll do it again.
FIRST RUNNER-UP
Dana Lynn Zotter, Holbrook
Despite the Drought
If just one Basil plant survived,
If just one Mint for tea,
If just one Monarch Butterfly,
Tipped its wings towards me,
If I caught one rainbow in the spray,
Or had one songbird’s company,
I reaped a treasured harvest,
Given, willingly.
SECOND RUNNER-UP
Lorraine Wodhanil, West Islip
Rainless cloudless Summer
Look what you’ve done.
I waited all winter to smell the blooms in my garden.
Waited, sitting under an afghan
with a lit candle jar labeled gardenia.
Now the aroma falls in the mulch
along with dry petals and brown leaves.
No lounge chair near my garden now.
I won’t have thirsty flowers peering at me
while I down my iced tea.
HONORABLE MENTION
Irma Souveroff, Baldwin
A lass, a lack
Oh, Heaven help you, honey, if you’re gardening in a drought;
Last summer saw my money and my patience running out.
Upon my herbs and flowers I had lavished precious water
While calling down the showers, as if I were Nature’s daughter.
And yet, the herbs and all the rest — they’ve only just survived,
But one unwelcome garden pest has positively thrived.
Come drought, come heat, come snow or hail, come toadstools on the lawn,
Come plagues of Egypt! Without fail — the crabgrass soldiers on.
Lorraine Wodhanil, of West Islip, wrote a poem about how her garden didn't fair well due to last year's heat. (May 31, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Jessica Rotkiewicz
MOST OPTIMISTIC
Renée McCauley, Rockville Centre
The Fairies Know
Geraniums, delphiniums and alliums for sure
The sizzling hot summer they all did endure.
Hydrangea, wisteria and zinnia, too
Determined to dance while the arid winds blew.
The roses held tight on their trellises strong
While searching for raindrops the whole summer long.
But the garden fairies laughed, be patient you’ll see
Tis only one season, before long there’ll be
The brisk winds of autumn whispering low
Just wait for next summer, a fresh flower show.
MOST SNARKY
Allen E. Loecher, East Meadow
There’s Better Times Ahead!
I hate the lawn, the weeding of beds
Feeding the flowers, the yellows and reds!
I hate my lawn mower!
The noise from the leaf blower.
My yard seems to fill all my time
Getting sweaty and full of grime.
From hours of trimming
azaleas and yews
Planting bulbs in the earth where the worms ooze!
I long for a drought and a garden that’s dead
When the lawn mower and tools are kept in the shed!
Dana Lynn Zotter in the garden at her Holbrook home. (May 31, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
THE BEST OF THE REST
Green Thumb Blues
Burnt Rhododendron leaves from summer’s drought,
Thin evergreens that leave their name in doubt.
The dense grey limbs from near dead oak trees fall
Upon a bony lawn, an acorn mall.
Irises, roses, blue hydrangea bank
On ten yards mulching. Will they walk the plank?
For over ninety bucks apiece I buy
Another sorry bit of hedge. (Don’t die!)
My indoor plants, alive now forty years,
They never gave me all these garden fears. -- Marcy Peter, Hicksville
Renewal
In trying times families huddle,
Working together through the muddle.
Last year’s dilemma was our poor lawn,
Which likely would not survive another dawn.
The drought turned the grass a light brown,
Observing the process made all of us frown.
Watering at any time was not allowed,
We prayed for rain with our heads bowed.
The roots went deeper than we knew,
As this spring the lush grass grew. -- Margaret Mitchko, East Meadow
Last Summer's Drought
When the heat went beyond ninety-five,
We feared our plants wouldn't survive.
So each day, without fail,
We'd empty a pail
Of water on them, and they thrived! -- Ed Ciaccio, Douglaston
A trio of haiku
Yellow sun above
Blades of brown and brittle grass
Hope it rains today
Wilting flowers bend
In the soil waiting for rain
In the heat of the afternoon
All the work of spring
Waiting for the rain to come
Life in the balance -- Robert Makofsky, Port Jefferson
Better Times Ahead
It sure did come as a big surprise
How high last summer’s temperature did arise
Early Girls, Beefsteaks and Brandywines started to look a little limpy
Pretty soon I was calling my Big Boys wimpy
As I looked skyward to the Almighty Power
I silently hoped for a heavy rain shower
Constantly spraying my hose at full power
My feeble tomatoes finally started to tower
Due to their dose of water every day
My tomato garden was a success, I proudly say! -- Terry Sullivan, Lynbrook
The drought of last summer
Was really a bummer.
My tulips had room
But they didn’t bloom.
My white and yellow rose
Gave me nothing but woes.
I never grew phlox
I only grew rocks.
No hyacinth green or blue.
Nothing in my garden grew. -- Ginny Kelly, Point Lookout
Gardens need water, it’s a fact that’s well known.
If it doesn’t rain, then we give them our own.
But during the drought we were told not to water,
To our gardens this meant a fate close to slaughter.
The peppers fell to the ground and the cukes turned all yellow.
The tomatoes were mushy like a melted marshmallow.
The bushes turned brown and so did the grass.
My garden certainly was not first class.
A garden needs sunshine and water, a mixture of both.
In order to flourish with good healthy growth. -- Carol Chiasera, North Bellmore
Wanna add your own poem? Comment it below.
