in the garden of my heart
God planted a mustard seed
gave me the gloves
& departed

i gave the mustard seed
love & devotion
& for a while
rooted myself in
God’s ground

and then the roots spread
some into the soil
& some into the gravel
& in the gravel i found
most of my sustenance

the devil had found his way
into my garden
& his ashes spread over the fertile ground
suffocating & sterilizing

the roots in the soil of God
found no water & withered
until they crumbled like dust
a ghost of ancient veins


& for a while i found my happiness
the devil can make rotten fruit
taste like the sweetest honey
so long as you smile
for him

until one day
the devil grew tired of my smiles
& he found doubt in my heart
his fruit was not so sweet now

my roots withered & burned & putrefied
even in the gravel that had once been my home
i was a mustard seed
small & scared & alone

i found my love & devotion
and was careful to sow only in the soil,
though only on the edges
for surely God could not forgive
i had eaten the forbidden fruit

until one day
God beckoned me further from the edges
He gave me love & devotion
just as i had given my mustard seed


under His love i grew
and spread my roots firmly in the soil
and there i was no longer a mustard seed
but a lily blossom