Offering of Earthly Delights

Have you stood silently
surrounded by the crescent
sweep of planted daffodils
and abundant lilies-of-the-valley
with an angel at the gate
guardian of the garden
keeping out despair?

Or seen hydrangea globes
let direct sunlight change
their palette of pastels?

Walk beside the chosen rocks
that are a threshold
from grass to flower beds
and the stones scooped out
with water pockets
that draw the thirsty birds.
This is a sight to slake
my own deep thirst.

Beside a day-lighted
stream and granite steps
moisture-loving plants abound
and there, look quickly,
is a peacock in the shade
displaying a hundred eyes
watching over our steps

--
​Royal Rhodes is a retired educator who taught courses on Early, Medieval, Reformation and Modern Christianity. He lives in a small village in the heartland of Ohio, surrounded by
a nature conservancy and Amish farms.