Can we talk?

Today

  It is a habit now to remember this day, to make him feel special, to give him some attention however small. This is the first birthday since he passed away. I've thought about it all week. Today he was with me all day. I miss going to a grave and carrying flowers. Cremation robs us of that ritual. I was looking at some flowers and thought of the beautiful white gardenias he used to grow. I realized that in my heart and mind, I can place flowers in his memory. And my words read by a few strangers will honor him more than a tombstone.

The Anniversary of a Birthday

July 22, For Michael

If you were still with us now,
We'd celebrate the day somehow--
A gift, a card, a time of mirth
To commemorate the day of your birth.
But you were impatient and left
Me behind to grieve your death.
Your ashes scattered, you have no tomb.
But in my heart a white gardenia blooms.
No need for stone to document,
These words of mine your monument.