Mint

We are suited to each other,
I think.

She is patient
with my lack of experience,
not minding the absence of green
in my thumb.

Mint curls a tendril around me.
“I will teach you,” she says.
“All you want to know.”

For starters, she is independent.
Take her inside over the winter
and she will wither. It is no kindness
to keep her from the world she loves.

But that doesn’t mean
she’ll shun all attention.

Check in on her
on dry, hot days.
Mint loves to stay a little wet,
but not drown.

She makes a lovely companion
in the quiet of your back porch.
But mind that she’s in a place that suits you both.

Otherwise, she’ll run wild
over the rest of your garden
until all you can taste is her
on the heavy summer air.

There is something about mint
that plays well with my energy.
There is something familiar and dear
about her tingle.

There is something about mint that feels
like the sweetest magic I’d forgotten
or pushed away.

But mint holds no grudges.
So long as I respect her
she rewards me

with a bright, effusive flavor
that lingers in my mouth
or her distinctive scent
on my hand when I stroke her.

Photo by SIMON LEE on Unsplash


Liner Notes For This Groove: This poem was created for the prompt given by Poets and Storytellers United, Mining the Journals. I like to take notes on plants I try growing for various and sundry purposes. LOL, mint is the first plant I really tried to grow. It helps a lot that I enjoy a cup of mint tea blend in the evenings.


40 comments:

  1. An exquisite ode to the most versatile Ms. Mint! Love your poem as much as I love mint in tea, in dishes, in drinks!

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  2. Oh, yes, she'll run wild, right next to her lemon balm cousins! Lovely words to the mint.

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  3. Foolishly I planted mint by my front door, thinking how delightful to have its scent there. Little did I know it would take over EVERYWHERE! She does run wild, for sure. Enjoyed your read!

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    1. I was warned early on. Grow her in a pot, OR ELSE! LOL

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  4. Love the descriptions so much. Heck, you know I'm allergic to mint, but your poem makes me want to at least sniff a sprig. I love the relationship between speaker and subject. It's obviously they can brew magic together.

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    1. I'll enjoy enough mint for the both of us :D Magic does abound where there's mint, which is wonderful. The damn thing grows just about anywhere.

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  5. I love your personification of mint, and the details which reveal your deep understanding of the plant world. Mint is a favourite of mine, too.

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    1. Thank you so much, Rosemary. This was a fun prompt to play with.

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  6. What a charming ode to mint.

    Muchđź’–love

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  7. I love your well-crafted poem, Rommy. It's spot-on about mint's low maintenance nature. I love mint too, "she [runs] wild
    over the rest of [my] garden. :) And oh, the sip of mint tea in mornings...bliss!

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    1. I've been loving mint in the evenings, especially if I know I'm spending the rest of that evening writing.

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  8. Loving this, Rommy. After violets and dandelions mints were my third plant to know. And she, best I can remember, doesn't flower. All three were at our country one-room Nebraska school.
    ..

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  9. Oh! yes, it grows and flourishes well. I too have a small patch of mint in my garden.

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  10. Oh I love this, very refreshing Rommy ❤️

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  11. Just the green and name mint, makes me think of being rich.

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    1. It does imply a certain sort of opulence, doesn't it?

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  12. i like how you describe mint, as if she's a person. with some character too! i am bad with growing plants and the only mint i know is from chewing gum. :)

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    1. Mint is super easy to grow. Some people consider her to be a w-e-e-d, but I'd never use such coarse language around her!

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  13. I love this. You write so well about mint as if "she" were a person. Great imagery, too!

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    Replies
    1. The vivid imagination I got scolded for as a child pays off when I write. :D

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  14. It certainly makes me want to plant some mint.

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    Replies
    1. She's easy to grow, but definitely stick to keeping her in a pot.

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  15. I have all kinds escaped into the garden, they wear their aroma like freedom, and no fencing them in!

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  16. You made mint a star of the garden! Love your tender care. Don’t forget about Mint Juleps!

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