Hymn to the Community Garden

This poem is a collaboration and was recited in Providence, Rhode Island at a workshop entitled “This Is What Love Looks Like.” 

David:

Mary, Mary, quite communitary-

ian, how does your community

garden grow?

 

With some compost in a vacant lot,

that’s how our community

garden grows.

 

Christopher:

With community gardens/

The people won’t be starving/

Higher prices, the stores are charging/

What their putting in the food these days is alarming/

I am arming myself with the knowledge to grow my own/

Healthy food, community, and love in all U.S. time zones/

What else do we need: cleaner water and air to breathe/

 

David:

Mary, Mary, quite communitary-

ian, how does your community

garden grow?

 

With lots of hard work

in a vacant lot

and no empty lots

to mow!

 

That’s how our community garden grows!

 

Christopher:

Community gardens bring the people together/

Community gardens helps us eat and do better/

It’s a natural, holistic way to cooperate and be/

I open my door, walk outside, and join in unity/

 

David:

Mary, Mary, quite Unitary-

ian (Universalist), how does your

community garden grow?

With lessons in growing

and nutritious food, that’s how our

community garden

grows. 

 

Christopher:

We’re talking tomatoes, squash, bell peppers, and greens/

Planting, nurturing, and growing those nutritious things/

We attend potlucks and farmer’s markets seeing our neighbors/

The food is good whether we eat it now, or save some for later/

The farm to table movement is what we can once again enjoy/

The youth in my city are growing food, becoming employed/

For this way of life, there is no harm or no pressure/

We can use this knowledge and love for the land to end food deserts/

 

David:

Mary, Mary, quite communitary-

ian, how does your community

garden grow?

Buy into our CSA

 

-Community Supported Agriculture!-

that’s how our

community garden

grows.

 

© Rev. Dr. David Breeden and Christopher D. Sims

June 4, 2014

Reprinted with permission from the authors.

Photo: College of Agriculture Communications’ photograph of an Atlanta garden taken during an October 2011 Urban Ag Tour. (April Sorrow/CC/Flickr)