a poem in my pocket

“After last night’s storm the tulip petals are strewn across the patio where they mortally fluttered.”– from Church, a poem by Jim Harrison

She lost her best friend…
husband and loyal confidant,
devoted father, avid fisherman;
a man for his time and beyond
who served country, church
and community well. He bloomed.

Did he enjoy flowers? He receives
them now with thin-petaled eyes
closed, smile line of lips stilled,
silent as the cancer that spread.

Like delicate flowers, we too are
seeded, planted, nurtured, watered,
weeded, sometimes uprooted, and
lovingly tended to our fragile end…
when God plucks and gathers us
into his eternally beautiful bouquet.

Thanks to Linda Lee Lyberg for dVerse poets prompt to write inspired by line from Jim Harrison’s poetry. Written in memory of Norm De Boom…for Sherry.