Alex.

It was a time of the Gardens,
of creating a space for growth,
and Alex was there, hair matted and smoked with manure,
as always, tending the borders.
Carefully, he looked at me.
He didn't say anything,
but his look smelt out the top soil.
Was I grower or plunderer? 

There is always ambiguity in relationships. 

Alex's gaze, moving sideways,
was quizzical. Did I dare look at the mouth, 
go beyond the hair
and take in the whole body
as a meaning which confirmed 
the message of the gaze?

The querying eyes, 
enticed an answer 
to the bordercrossing,
to the herbaceous garden which needed tending.
It is Growth and Care
that matter. 

Now the Garden 
does not have the Gardener,
the borders are commandeered by
the Disney-men, 
the Disney men 
who alone are happy today.

But Alex's eyes
will leap and surprise 
us by keeping on asking
Are you plundering
or growing?

And the hair?
Fertilize, fertilize.


Ioan Davies
27.x.1993

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