The Paper Garden — reading guide
Poems by Lucie Fontaine: the first pages, questions for reading groups and a word about the author.
About the book
Sixty poems about gardens, grandmothers and the patience of growing things, each one given its own page and plenty of white space.
The first pages
My grandmother planted / the way other people pray: / on her knees, in silence, / without asking for anything / she could see. / Every spring the garden / answered her a little late, / like a letter from abroad. / She never minded. / She said the best things / always arrive / after you stop waiting at the window.
For reading groups
- Which poem would you plant in your own garden?
- How does the white space change the way you read?
- What does patience look like in these poems?
About the author
Lucie Fontaine is a gardener and a poet in Provence. Her poems have appeared in small magazines for twenty years.