- Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
…Until their blooms go grey.
Shriveled on fat green stalks, they
hang their heads low to lament
other blossoms who have lost their spring flush.
I pry them off, snap, snap,
on my way from somewhere to somewhere.
What are you doing? she wants to know.
Trimming off the dead blossoms.
She pauses. Pensive mood.
Aunt Sherry’s dead.
It doesn’t land with a thud,
it flutters to the ground and gets caught
on a knife blade of grass.
What do you think “dead” is? I want to know.
A flash upon her inward eye.
“When it’s Christmas I can play with
the fragile angel.”
Yes, my dear,
when the stalks are gone too,
when new bulbs are plunged into the earth,
you can.
4 Responses to “daffodils”
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Asides
» I have been remiss in posting SBJ’s latest stats: 23 pounds and 27 inches at six months. Yes, I’ve got the big mama biceps.
» Aaaaaand little she-who-is lost another tooth this week!
» SBJ is four months old, 19 pounds 5 ounces, and 26 inches tall. GIGANTOR!
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Wow.
On our walk home from the park yesterday, we saw a beautiful purple iris bloom and C noted how pretty it was. In my attempt to keep her Aunt Sherry “alive,” I noted that her Gram and I placed purple irises from Gram’s garden at Sherry’s gravesite when I was there a few weekends ago.
Then she asked, “What’s a grave”?
I answered.
Then she asked, “How did she die”?
I answered.
Then she asked, “Was she sick and throwing up”?
It was then that I didn’t know where to proceed, not wanting her to be alarmed the next time her tummy hurts and she hurls, yet knowing that C [along with my other grandchildren] are perfectly brilliant and process all the information they get so well.
How do I explain cancer, death before it should come, the loss of a sister when I don’t even understand it?
I retreated to the old standby “she’s in heaven with Jesus” “she’s in heaven with Grandpa” “she’s in heaven with God” and by then we were home.
on a related topic—did you ever hear about the new england opportunity?
mamala sorry about your sister. I think it’s lovely you can discuss this with C - no-one of us can explain cancer, death before it should come, and the sadness, but I love it that you don’t exclude your family from the reality and the pain of losing someone you loved.
RM - wonderful poem. the fragile angel …mmm