Door in Provence
By Barbara Miller
Watercolor
29" x 22"

From the ECVA exhibition,
Inside-Outside: Work from ECVA Chapters

The Christ Child's Garden
By George W. Jones

The Holy Lad, say at 12,
made a garden of roses.
Gathered fertile soil in a basket,
load after load,
to enrich the thin barren soil
among limestone rocks.
Planted, cultivated,
fetched jars of water for irrigation,
pruned, and toiled.

Then reward!
The lovely roses bloom.
Came all the friends
and neighbors saying,
“Give me a rose.”
Not one did the generous
Sacred Heart refuse.
Said the Holy Mother,
“Every bloom is gone,
you have nothing left.”
“But yes,” answered Mary’s Son,
“I have left the thorns.”

Be it the fresh mild perfume
of the Mission garden
in the cool of the new day
before Mass time,
or the pungent scent
of a thousand rose blooms
beneath a hot mid‑day sun,
or the heavy fulsome poignancy
of tuberoses and petunias
laced with rose
and spiced with carnation
permeating the dank night air
at Evening Prayer time.

Be it any smell of the garden,
it brings memories
of the Christ Child’s Garden.
Surely they had a garden.