Sabrina Berci - Her Long Poem

Photo: D.R. Wagner

Dear Margaret

by Sabrina Berci


In a rainy, freezing city,

Across the silver sea

Where dark clouds formed

And thunderstorms

Never seemed to cease

Where moods were changed

By winds that came

And anger seemed to seize the day

Where doormats weren’t welcoming

And chaos seemed to always greet



There was a little yellow house

Smiling through the storms and frowns

Smiling despite floods because

Within lay a kind heart of love

A grinning little Margaret

With joy none could suppress

For all went well in her sweet life

No worries, troubles, and no strife

Yes, Maggie seemed to have all good

The inverse of the neighborhood



And just behind her yellow house

Far from the chaos and the rouse

Dear Margaret planted little seeds

And waited for them to sprout earth's beads

She covered her garden with a green, striped umbrella

To save earth’s jewels from the frightening weather

And after twelve months of planting and waiting

And pruning and weeding and lifting from shading

Right under the green refuge began to grow,

The anticipated harvest after toil of the sow



Rich purple eggplants, sunset blends of squash

Peaked out from the earth, uninjured by slosh

Scarlet red apples in trees did not hide

For out from the leaves, their deep colors shined

Bright orange carrots and pumpkins galore

Hearty potatoes on earth’s golden floor

Plump, emerald figs, pink treasures inside,

Large juicy peaches with drips on their sides

Fantasy strawberries joined with the choir

Tall cherry trees stretched higher and higher



All of them called to be pulled from the earth

To share with the neighbors the blessings unfurled

And she did this for one year, then two years, then five

And each year the harvest continued to thrive

Under the umbrella lay pleasure and joy

A canvas to paint with each new seed in the soil

And as rains came down the umbrella stood strong

Unshaken, unbroken, through rain’s angry song

But one day was different than all of the rest

One day dear Maggie was put to a test



It was on a Tuesday in the busy city

Rain came down as always, still pelting the street

But when she awakened, Maggie wished she were dreaming

For she wiped her eyes to see floods that were streaming

Just outside her window, where the umbrella once stared

Was a broken once-fortress, the crops who knows where

And fierce rains had fallen, without any care

Ruining all the squash, carrots, and balsam pears

Oh where, Oh where would she find any spares?

Spare figs, spare strawberries, spare anywhere?



She thought and thought and then remembered

The most important, significant words

She knelt down beside her bed and she whispered

Believing her Abba, dear Daddy had heard

Though her tears were falling, and next steps were blurred

Though her heart was filled with worry and hurt

Though all of the street would call her absurd

She knelt down refusing to just be deterred

For in her heart, she felt a strong stir

A nudge to pray despite all the blur

And a few moments later, she knew Daddy’d heard

For outside her window was the tap of a bird

Beak pecking at glass on that stormy day

Surviving through furious, pelting blue rain

She opened the window and welcomed her in

A bird with bright feathers, on her face a grin

And beneath her shiny, maroon-colored beak

A great sign of providence, a little green leaf

Oh hope, oh peace, oh promise restored!
A miracle in darkness shown through a small bird



That moment Maggie knew she had nothing to fear

For though the storms came to bring her to tears

The birdie she welcomed brought much better news

She told her, reminded her to always choose

Joy instead of mourning, hope instead of blues

Patience in the waiting without any clues

Trust despite confusion, despite her heart’s cry

Joy being her song, her victorious chime

Peace always, not just in content or in plenty

Faith even in times that were hard to believe



The birdie sang songs of these beautiful virtues

As Maggie still wondered about what to do

Maggie took little birdie and named her Lulu

A friend she would never desire to shoo

And as floods kept on coming, crops gone from her sight

She kept her eyes open, and thought through the night

Maggie dreamed of umbrellas she would soon receive

To help her escape from what caused her to grieve

She merely desired to be able to

Continue to give neighbors earth’s treats anew



But Lulu sang songs about a greater harvest

That Margaret would see if she’d just keep her patience

A harvest without need of a large umbrella

“A harvest!” she’d sing in her sweet acapella

Still Maggie kept wondering about what to do

And one day she resolved and decided to

Make a new umbrella, how hard could it be?

Just like the old one, destroyed by rain’s sea

She drew a small sketch while she had her green tea

And sang, reassured, that the crops she’d soon see



And morning ‘til evening she sewed the larger refuge

Stronger and thicker so rain couldn’t intrude

She looked out her window and storms kept her sewing

But small Lulu whispered, “Do not keep going”

Margaret did not understand what Lulu had said

For finally she had the joy back to her head

Why did Lulu desire for her to stop sewing?
Could it be that she thought Maggie couldn’t keep going?

But if she’d stop sewing, she’d need to start rowing
To get out of town for the debt she’d be owing!



So Maggie continued, ‘til there almost finished

Was a beautiful umbrella, no longer diminished

And then on a Tuesday, the fortress was ready

To be put outside, and through rain remain steady

And Margaret had new seeds she wanted to plant

And floods could no longer bellow “You can’t!”

So without concern, without doubt, without prayers

She pulled the umbrella down all the house stairs

But just as dear Maggie reached the downstairs floor

She realized a problem, how to get through the door?



She opened the small yellow door with a squeak

And recalled a song from Lulu’s small beak

“Don’t worry about how the harvest will come

Just keep your joy ‘til I stop thunder’s drum

You will see the beauties overflow in the city

But right now just pray and wait patiently”

Oh no! Maggie cried, she knew she’d been told

She thought Lulu’s harvest song silly, too bold

But now she saw that she’d have to unfold

Her hands from the refuge that only brought scold



Lulu cried a sweet song of the harvest again

And with that dear Margaret knelt beside her bed

She knew she could not even try to bring back

The beautiful treats, for a year she now lacked

She knew she had to give up all of her will

And trust in the words Lulu sang to her still

So with that dear Margaret lifted her hands

Gave up her dreams, her ideas, her plans

And asked for the greater harvest to come

The one that would stop thunder’s furious drum



And just as she lifted her hands as of old

She saw that the blessings began to unfold

Through her little window, for the very first time

A gleam of gold hope began to arise

A beam in the darkness, where once there was none

The light revealed the true, magnificent One

And with the sun awesome crops began to grow

More rich and more plentiful, one hundred fold

Maggie looked from her window with shock and amazement

And saw that the city had stopped their lament



“Much better, much purer, the plans that weren’t mine

Much richer, much more,” Maggie had realized

“Oh even though I went through one year without

I learned a great lesson: never to doubt

I tried and I tried to build another fortress

But all that did was make a more immense mess

But all the while Lulu sang about the key

And only now do I see what suffering has taught me

Thankful and patient, I’m confident in You

The One who brought harvest, my One true refuge”