“Ace up the Sleeve”
we met
in his garden
I call it his garden
‘cause he knows each plant
by heart
he likes customers like me
‘cause I have to have them all
he opens his doors earlier than his 8 a.m. sign
‘cause he’s old-school
and when he asks if I need any help,
he actually means it
if it weren’t for his injured shoulder
he’d of gladly lifted and loaded my four bags of soil
instead he calls for someone else
in the meantime, I ask him how he hurt himself
and he tells me he fell
tripped over some cement bumper thing in a parking lot
and that was that
now, he’s hoping physical therapy will keep him outta surgery
he’s learned how to adapt and adjust
from cast to sling
there’s a sense that he can do this with most anything
before I go, I ask him if he can order certain plants
he says he can
and I ask him if he can order lily of the valley
he says he always carries that and to check back
in 2-3 weeks
a shipment should be here then
I can’t believe it
my first flower will be here in 2-3 weeks
just like that
he has no idea what this flower means to me
but I do
in 2-3 weeks
tiny white bells will ring
TL