No flowers in the kitchen window

The following poem is for my Father, but I will never be able to give it to him. My Mom died last February after being with him for 56 years and now he doesn’t know what to do with the hole that has created. As his only child living 5000 miles away leaves me unable to be there for him now. My Dad is the greatest man I know and I love him with all my heart. DH

Tucked away from the sight of the road

Stands a house no longer a home

Built with love for the apple of his eye

Fifty five years they shared a life

They shared everything

Their one purpose

Was to take care of eachother

And so they did

Working together for everything they had

As one

Then came the cancer

Like a wildfire it could not be stopped

Watching the golden memories slip

Through the hourglass one final time

Never to be reset again

Between autumn and winter

Hope slowly faded away

Then slipped off to a peaceful sleep

Never again to awakened

Only to be remembered

The cats don’t come around anymore

You only see someone mowing the lawn

The two reflector vests no longer walk the road at night

As they had for thirty years

One set of footprints is missing

In a garden where trees have children’s names

And shrubs mark anniversaries

Wine grapes line the fences

But soon I fear it will be too much

For my Father to hang on to or let go of.