May 25, 2026

by VERIPAUMI KANGUMINE

In the Shade of the Camelthorn

Instead of cowering 

I have grown to look death 

right in the eye

I no longer care to find out 

what it can do

I’ve seen it wipe down 

everything my mother loved 

and still she managed to stand firm 

in the shade of the Camelthorn tree

She did not scorn at anything or anyone 

she merely planted her tomatoes 

and her onions and some pumpkins 

if the season permitted 

She grew mint in a container 

on the window seal 

and harvested thyme 

from her garden

And even when her intend

was to plant the Jacaranda tree

and instead the Weeping Willow 

grew in its stead

And even when she intended 

to plant the purple of the Jasmine

 but instead the Rosemary, Lavender 

and the Basil grew instead 

She marinated her chicken, 

lamb and mutton with them 

and garnished the front door 

with the lavender 

Or sometimes instead of the spinach 

it was its cousin the kale 

or the wild greens that took over 

her garden like a weed

She would boil them for hours 

with garlic, onions and tomatoes 

and you would never know that this 

was never the hard life 

She never wanted 

and when we licked the sauce 

from our lips and wiped 

the plates clean with our finger 

She would ask if we wanted seconds 

and you would never hear her say 

that the things in the garden 

were never what she planned 

To grow in the first place

and so when death comes tell him 

that I know how to turn 

a barren corner of earth into a garden

I know how to grow a forest 

from the sacred seed of Adam and Eve 

I know that even if all  I intended 

to do was grow the luscious 

Acacia tree and instead sowed its cousin

the Camelthorn with its thorns

I’ll never turn down the shade 

of a good thing

Because to my mother

 all that mattered was never the tree

only that those she loved

were spared from the wrath of the sun.