September 2025 - Heaven
September’s singular beauty lies in its unexpected stillness, in its reflective pauses which stop us in our tracks with a uniquely autumnal slant of light or briskness of breeze as we shepherd children out the door to school or harvest the bounty of our gardens. From the high prospect of September, we can survey the months which have passed and, perhaps, if we squint hard enough, glimpse those up ahead in the distance. In this way, September is a type of heaven, a place to simply be, to breathe, and, as poet bg Thurston urges, to “plant your feet” in the now of life, in all its shades and seasons.
Heaven
by bg Thurston
When you find yourself in a garden,
you are closer to your conception
of God, poking your fingers deep
in dirt. Weeds and worry have you
on your knees—praying for the rows
of small seeds to take root and rise
through soil toward the sunlight.
Mindful of every minor miracle,
your eyes search the skies with hope
for enough rain to sustain each plant.
Suddenly, you succumb—a spectator
to growth gone wild, vines vying
for victory over all the empty earth.
Now you build your belief in bees
and butterflies, as pollination peaks
in the consummation of creation.
When the garden is spent, gratitude
gleaned for the food reaped before
frost finishes off the final harvest.
Light a bonfire in the midst of stones
that stand watch in a silent circle. Try
to summon seasons past and future.
Do not assume spring will come again
or if it does, that you will be present.
Plant your feet and feed the flames.
bg Thurston lives on a sheep farm in Warwick, Massachusetts. She received her MFA in Poetry from Vermont College in 2002. She has taught poetry courses at Lasell Village, online for Vermont College, and conducts poetry workshops. Her third book of poetry, The Many Lives of Cathouse Farm/Tales of a Rural Brothel, was published in 2025 by Cervená Barva Press and is the culmination of a decade of historical research about her 1770’s farmhouse. It includes “Heaven,” which was first published in the Old Frog Pond Farm & Studio plein air chapbook half a peck.
