Botanica

[Brownlie]

Botanica

Oh, for a garden like the one
that lately graced our urban street;
where florabunda bloomed profuse
and finch and magpie chanced to meet.

Where citrus hung in golden globes -- Is hung acting to foreshadow here?
to cushion winter’s creeping chill,
and pansies beds assured the world
that spring would keep her promise still.-- [b]I enjoyed the naive belief in the promise of life thriving in spring.

It’s said the man who owned it waned
from grieving for his lifelong mate;
and in his potting shed arranged
with rope his life to terminate.--- I assume he commited suicide here
They’re ripping up the garden now
to build a clutch of smart abodes
for business folk who can’t afford
to waste their time in useless modes. -- His work and legacy is carelessly being cast asunder.

So last weekend a neighbour brought
me floral tributes from the mall: -- The mall is part of an industrializing force that has no rooms for things like gardensthat panorama at the sink
and Monet’s garden in the hall.

I may have missed some things in your poem, but I got that a man committed suicide and his garden was paved over to build new houses. I don't get the narrators connection to the man who ostinsably hung himself. The idea of a man's garden being paved over after his death as if it had no value is reminiscent of literary naturalism. Unfortunately, the allusion at the end was lost on me. My humble analysis... Thanks for posting.