09/30 Poem A Day Challenge

Anniversary

I think of you in the spring, 

when the world is chaotic with colour.

I think of you 

lying in your hospital bed 

waiting for the end 

of the late winter of your life.

I think of you in the spring, 

one last car ride.

I couldn’t give you blossom time in the Okanogan

but gave you these city streets abundant with new life;

ornamental cherry blossoms, 

flowering magnolia stars,

early bulbs bursting with colour.

I think of you in the spring,

the day we escaped from the hospital 

to embrace the rebirth of the world.

We ended up at Dairy Queen 

where you ate part of a Peanut Buster Parfait.

They were always your favourite treat.

I think of you in the spring 

when warm rains wake the earth. 

Those rich, fecund odours 

remind me of the time

the old gods were getting ready

to welcome you home.

I think of you most in the spring. 

I miss you most in the spring.

I remember

your eyes sparkling, 

your smile shining

in your worn and weary face; 

your love for all of us there till 

the very end 

and beyond.