Pearl Fryar, a trim grown man
came to a cold welcome in town
without remorse another way began
he saw to fit his skin of brown

into that southern blanched life
he bought a patch of ground
moved onto with his son and wife
and taught a life's lesson profound

simply this sharecropper's son
without education to show him
undeterred by apathetic shun
his trees and bushes he'd trim

from trash to topiary vision
magnificent his wonderful shapes
neighbors minds changed from derision
that imagination was but sour grapes

over years of toil his garden grew
and so to did his respect and renown
people befriended who hadn't a clue
hard toil had created common ground

beauty is indeed in the beholders eye
and his vision so clearly seen
to grow peoples love we must try
he used his sculpted garden of green

humble is the godly gardener
who labors for a beautiful world
like ancient ancestral carpenter
immortal resplendence unfurled

© agoodguy2have 2010-11-25