POETRY
I Sent Yellow Flowers
a poem for the grieving
Once you took my hand and we laughed together, our feet in the cool waters at Murray’s Mill. Life breathed through your body against all the odds of illness and hardship. You rolled the cuffs of your pants and took each bare-footed step with me. Every happy moment with you was a celebration of all life. You’d ruminate on the joy for weeks.
You looked for flowers. Yellow ones. The color that brought you the most joy.
I picture you dancing there, feet in the trickling stream, running your fingers through the waters, celebrating the feel of it on your skin. You are no longer afraid of snakes. Breathing comes smooth and effortlessly. Your body moves in a dance with the earth, though your skies are now the golden hue of Heaven.
Now the hand is Jesus’ hand and He welcomes you. I can hear you sing.
No more pain. No more fear. No more struggle of lungs and heart and liver…but one body, clean of all the burdens you’ve carried, bearing only joy. I am sure you still seek yellow flowers — but now I know you find them everywhere.
I sent yellow flowers to your family. It seems a small thing to do but what can be done when the heavens have opened for you and left them all behind? My prayer for them is that the memory of…
