77 Poems From a Philadelphia Garden

77 Poems From a Philadelphia Garden is a collection of poems that author Aron Goldschneider composed over the course of seven solitary yet joyful years tending to a cherished, historic garden. Lovingly and richly illustrated by his daughter Bronwyn Goldschneider, the book was written with the belief that gardening and contemplation, and therefore gardening and poetry, go hand in hand-those who live in gardening experience a kind of poetry in their devotion. Alongside the central wellsprings of poetry-love, death, nature-the work explores the gardener's dilemma: the folly in the very notion of "my garden" amid impermanence and forces beyond control. These lived contradictions are the poet's constant companions, like the catbirds who return each year to work alongside him, offering beauty and amusement, yet vying for fruit.

The poems' accessible, at times playful language reflects the shared experience of gardeners and those who love gardens, whether or not they are well-versed in poetry. Their brevity and spareness no doubt grow out of the author's lifelong love for and study of the Chinese language. Indeed, a number of the poems are translated into Chinese or include Chinese words. Several are as short as koans. Readers have described them as "poems in English with Daoist colors," expressing "quiet wonder, humor, and tenderness."