At Hickory Museum of Art on September 17, 2016, Brenda Smith shares her Pat Viles inspired poem with the audience at Art of Poetry. Photo courtesy of Roger and Ginny Sanford.

Brenda Smith
WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT
After “Monet Garden Series” by Pat Viles

In total darkness beneath the soil
A tiny dark seed stirs
A sprout emerges yearning toward the sun
A flower head forms and ripens
Bright blooms break forth
Seed potential now complete
The herbal balms and healing salves
ready to give up their secrets
to the hedge witch’s caress
if she but sits and waits for
the plants to call to her.