Luca Flauto's poem follows a garden keeper who prefers plants to people. He spends his days protecting his roses, and what he looks forward to most is closing time, when the gates shut and only faint echoes of the city reach him. The silence is what he craves.
The speaker's feelings are clear: plants repay care, while people "break him, leaving him scattered." Society is pictured as a monster with sharp teeth, a frightening image that contrasts sharply with the gentle garden. The gardener's refuge is the rose rows, an old oak, and his cosy cottage, all places where nothing lets him down.
The mood is quiet and protective, with a note of sadness underneath. His happiness is real, but the poem suggests it depends on withdrawing from other people. The final lines, about things that "grow silently, fed by his love," make that peace feel both tender and a little lonely.