the rudbeckia aren’t usually still in bloom,
so close to my birthday,
and even these are brittle –
but in the patch near the small gravel pile,
perhaps sheltered by the overgrown viburnum,
a few stragglers remain.
if I’d noticed them last year I might have arranged
one more vase
and placed it by her bedside,
so she could have turned her head
and thought to herself,
how I love those black-eyed susans.
bussokuseki 
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Returning to your blog after a long time I find this tender, wistful poem. Sending thanks, sympathy, and courage. The date of your post is the day before my own father died. Everyone faces death alone, they say, and yet it is our shared human condition. As we begin to pass into the senior generation, we can take comfort in the knowledge that we are all going through this, albeit each of us in our own way. Warm wishes and belated Happy Birthday. J
Very nice. Worth waiting a year for!
Thank you, drshyamalavatsa, thank you. Be well ~
A beautiful surprise opened up as I logged on this morning — a new post on your blog. I couldn’t wait to read. So tender and poignant is this poem that I’m at once peaceful and sad and smiling. Thank you.
What a surprise it was for me as well … I’m so happy you found your way to it, and in appreciate you sharing your response. Be well!
Beautiful, and so tender.
So great to read your words again! Your writings awaken images that invite me to journey through relationships, emotions, and private musings.
Thank you Brenda, it’s good to be back, if only briefly (looking forward to finding out …)
Lovely!
Thank you!