Mr Green is a Garden
by Hannah Linden
He’s always suspected this. Some men are rivers but he was never going anywhere but up. The hedge pushes itself beyond his boundaries, leans over the pavement. He feels worms and flying insects; he knows he is capable of ponds.
Mr Green is in need of a sharp pair of secateurs. He’s not quite sure of the link with insurrection but even thinking about whether he needs bypass or anvil blades makes him want to weep flowers.
Mr Green is sure that his cultivated parts are the best showcase. He leads everyone over the decking, down the steps and across the clovered lawn. The specimen on display is one he found before anyone knew it was potentially valuable. He likes to say she was his first, even though it’s not true. Given the incompatibility, if he stops putting ashes on her roots, she’ll just wither and die.
Hannah Linden is neurodivergent, queer, from a working-class Northern background but lives in ramshackle social housing in Devon, UK. Her most recent awards include 1st prize Cafe Writers Poetry Competition 2021, Highly Commended Wales Poetry Award 2021, and 2nd Prize Leeds Peace Poetry Prize 2024. She is published widely eg in Acumen, Atrium, Blackbox Manifold, Iambapoet, Lighthouse, Magma, New Welsh Review, Poetry Wales, Setumag, Shearsman, Stanchion, Stand, Tears in the Fence, The Rialto, Under the Radar etc. Her debut pamphlet, The Beautiful Open Sky, (V. Press) was shortlisted for the Saboteur Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet 2023. BlueSky: @hannahl1n.bsky.social