Pandemic Garden
By Pam Crow
All summer long, the tomatoes were a disappointment. They drooped in their cages, leaves crisping at the edges. Some carried green globes that refused to ripen, or split skins that smelled of decay. Only a few Brandywines. No Romas, no Early Girls. Now it is October, and the garden is dead. I grasp withered stems, yank plants out as if they are evils to be crushed. I whack root balls against the wooden planter, naming catastrophes: Wildfires. Sickness. Hunger; hurl each onto the compost pile. I’ve grown too familiar with disaster. Clenched against the wind, I turn toward home, and glowing amid the heap of yard debris I see survivors. Four Golden Sunrise, small orbs that all fit in the palm of my hand. I rub them on my jeans. Their blood in my mouth tastes sweet.
Pam Crow is an award-winning poet who lives in Portland, Oregon. Pam’s work has been published in Green Mountain Review, Carolina Quarterly, Southern Poetry Review, Ploughshares, and other national journals. She is the winner of the Astraea Emerging Lesbian Writers award and the Neil Shepard award for poetry. Her book, Inside This House, was published by Main Street Rag Press in 2008.
11/7 / Meet the Artist with visiting poet-in-residence Vandana Khanna / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 6:00 pm EST / Free
11/7 / Poetry Reading with visiting poet-in-residence Vandana Khanna + local writer Nicole Callihan / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7:00 pm EST / Free
Two workshops remain in our Workshop Series--SWWIM Lessons: From Prompt to Placement: “Navigating Your Manuscript with Alexandra Lytton Regalado – What I learned from reading for (and winning) the National Poetry Series” on 11/12 (register here) and “Surfing Submittable with Jen Karetnick – Keeping your head above water in the poetry submissions process” on 12/10 (register here). Price: $80/workshop. Time: 7:00–9:00 PM (EST). Where: Zoom.
Note: SWWIM Every Day is now accepting poetry translations for publication consideration. Please see swwim.org/submit for the full guidelines.
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