Treasure Covered in Green

Thomas Hemminger

November 5, 2023

We made a lifelong memory

in the slimy green bed

of a neighbor’s backyard creek.

Retirement won’t stop our friend

from sharing her love for the

natural sciences with anyone

who will listen—always the teacher.

“Come fossil hunting” she invited,

so we threw on muck boots

and came at once.

Green is nature’s birthright.

The inherited hue of growing things

when the sun blesses their

reaching with nourishment and promise.

From the post oak to the river moss,

it will be the shade of our memory today.

“Dad! Come see this one!”

When we turned over each plate of slippery

greenwashed limestone in our hands,

we turned back time itself with

every blood clam or palm frond

immortalized in the rock.

We came home with a trove

of specimens to clean and catalog,

but the real gold will forever be

this memory

with a neighbor we love.

Thomas Hemminger is an elementary music teacher living in Dallas, Texas. His personal hero is Mr. Fred Rogers, the creator of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It was through America’s favorite “neighbor” that Thomas learned of the importance of loving others, and of giving them their own space and grace to grow.