Greta & Ms Mary

Greta left Kindergarten right after the final song of the day,

the sun uncoded the invisible-ink-freckles on her nose in an array.

She came upon a large wooden gate with a latch,

she knew she should knock and gave it a wholehearted whack,

Greta heard no response, so she knew what to do, 

she climbed on a pot and unlatched her way through.

A fairy-world of flowers made Greta’s mouth open with a coo,

there were so many flowers, Greta could name only a few.

“I will pick the most wonderful flowers for me!” 

exclaimed Greta, seeing all that her big eyes could see.

Greta grabbed sunflowers and a few ladybugs to go,

but while she went to help herself little did she know…

A little old lady was watching from her window,

she was coming toward Greta with her basket in tow,

With Greta’s arms full of sweet smelling treats of the earth, 

she stashed her little ladybugs safely in the pocket of her skirt.

Behind her Ms. Mary about four foot eight standing, 

came hobbling over from her house to give this child some reprimanding,

She gazed at the little curly haired girl hopping around,

she saw Greta’s bright eyes and flowers she had found,

The rocks of Ms. Mary’s eyes began to soften with the sun,

she cleared her throat to alert Greta while she was still having fun,

Greta heard the unfamiliar sound and felt worry from her eyes to her toes, 

she turned to see a granny-like woman in the garden with a sharp red nose,

“My name is Ms. Mary and this is my garden, 

I’ve planted these flowers and worked very hard on them,”

Greta looked down at the sunflowers bundled in her arms,

her tears sprinkled the flowers as she thought she had done them some harm.

“My dear child, these flowers, although they are mine,

are happy to be yours now, they are a special kind.”

Ms. Mary explained to Greta how the flowers were done growing, 

so they were happy to be picked and not left for the mowing.

Ms. Mary told Greta that next time she must ask before taking,

for asking is kind when someone else is doing the tasking.

Greta nodded and gave Ms. Mary a mighty big hug,

she thanked the old lady and held her flowers snug.

Ms. Mary had not had a hug in a very long while,

she turned towards the sunlight with a wholehearted smile,

Greta gave Ms. Mary so much more than she had taken,

feeling the warm of the sun she realized she had once been mistaken,

Little gestures of the heart could brighten days for years on end,

little gestures planted seeds of healing and put minds right on the mend.