JUDITH CODY
SANCTUARY
Somewhere hidden behind an ivied fence
Pressed between some stiff suburban walls
A tiny patch of garden grows
Fruitful as a bit of Eden, tended by
Enchantresses, or even monks, or just plain me,
Earth is persuaded to procreate
Ignoring dispatches of distress
Deaf to uproars or commotion from TV
Immune to inner voice or outer cry
Marking notice of private disarray.
Lush abundance of the soil at last released,
The gardener has earned an undisturbed respite.
Narrowing light blends flowers, shrubs, and trees
En masse making a Monetesque
Sanctuary where now can rows of roses nod
Their unbiased heads in the breezes of the dusk.
JUDITH CODY, poet, composer and photographer has won many national awards and is published in over 150 journals. A poem is in the Smithsonian’s Institute’s permanent collection, in Spanish and English. “Sanctuary” will be in Cody’s forthcoming chapbook, “Garden On An Alien Star System” from Finishing Line Press. A poem won second place in the national Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition. Other poems were quarter-finalists for the Pablo Neruda Prize. Cody wrote the internationally noted biography of the American composer, “Vivian Fine: A Bio-Bibliography”, also “Eight Frames Eight poems”, and “Woman Magic”. She edited a PEN Oakland anthology, was Editor-in-Chief of the first “Resource Guide on Women in Music”. One of her poems was chosen from a world selection by the Norton Center for the Arts for a featured gallery exhibit. Cody’s intimate photography of a rare surviving B-17 aircraft from WWII ranks #1 in the world on Google. www.judithcody.com