Impatiens by Melissa Fondakowski

Impatiens, by Melissa Fondakowski (Poet with a Day Job) was the 2001 Sow's Ear Chapbook Winner and deservedly so. The poem that gives the collection its title, Window Box, is a description of planting Impatiens in a window box, the narrator at nine 'wondered how a plant could be impatient'.

Many of the other poems in the book, though not overtly to do with nature or environmental themes, have a strong connection to the earth, as these lines from Eve:

I become Adam, alluvial and nascent, waking
under a firmament certain with birds

Impatiens is available to purchase from the sidebar of Melissa's blog

Some of Melissa's more recent poems featured on this joy and ride, you can read them here.

Jessica, over at 9-5 Poet also reviewed Impatiens, you can read her review here.