Poem
Thomas McCarthy
The Rarest Thyme
The Rarest Thyme
The Rarest Thyme
For you I would have built a herb-garden,Not a pathetic patch for mint and chives
But a real olitory, with old-
Fashioned southernwood and rarest thyme.
I might have built a wooden seat between
Two plants of rosemary, their astringent
Scent seeping through your workshirt to the clean
Flesh of your back. I would have grown a plant
Of basil for you to stroke into form;
And, certainly, a row of lavender
To infuse carefully over a warm
Stove, for you to sip at whenever
The world became darkened with sick headaches,
Or a loss of blood whitened your small hands.
© 1978, Thomas McCarthy
From: Mr. Dineen\'s Careful Parade - New and Selected Poems
Publisher: Anvil Press Poetry, London
From: Mr. Dineen\'s Careful Parade - New and Selected Poems
Publisher: Anvil Press Poetry, London
Poems
Poems of Thomas McCarthy
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The Rarest Thyme
For you I would have built a herb-garden,Not a pathetic patch for mint and chives
But a real olitory, with old-
Fashioned southernwood and rarest thyme.
I might have built a wooden seat between
Two plants of rosemary, their astringent
Scent seeping through your workshirt to the clean
Flesh of your back. I would have grown a plant
Of basil for you to stroke into form;
And, certainly, a row of lavender
To infuse carefully over a warm
Stove, for you to sip at whenever
The world became darkened with sick headaches,
Or a loss of blood whitened your small hands.
From: Mr. Dineen\'s Careful Parade - New and Selected Poems
The Rarest Thyme
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