ECHOES

My Backyard Talks Back

Bracha Goetz

Picked up a wilted flower, 

Found in the backyard.

It had a lot to tell me.

Guess I was listening hard.

Said something separated,

Plucked from its life source, 

Just as soon as that is done,

Decay will run its course.

Next there were the fallen, 

Dried-up leaves that had collected,

Making cracks about how it does not take long

Once something live gets disconnected.

Weeds were quickly growing,

Surrounding each healthy shoot,

Warning that things destructive

Take great effort to uproot.

We get disconnected.

Weeds race to choke us, too.

But through the dirt, and toward the light,

A tiny sprout cracks through.

I feel no need to travel now.

Enough running away.

Right here in my own backyard

Life has so much to say.

Bracha Goetz is the author of 43 children’s books and a candid memoir for adults about her journey to joy in Judaism, Nourish the Soul: Filling the Emptiness Within.  Her newest picture books include, Let’s Stay Healthy, Don’t Read This Book, and The Mother Who Always Said Yes.  These books can be found in bookstores and at www.growingimpactpublications.com.