Once-upon-a-time Flower

Once upon a time

you gave me a flower

Just because you thought it might

bring a smile to my face

during a hard time.

It did.

Sunkissed yellow petals

on a sturdy green stem.

I treasured it, put it in water

looked at it every day.

Then life got in the way,

things moved,

busyness ensued,

and while my back was turned

that cheery token from nature

died a little more each day.

Until one fateful moment

its wilted stem and fragile petals

unknowingly

found its way to the wastebasket.

I wish I’d paid more attention

pressed it between a book or

simply

saved it in photograph form.

I’d have rescued it

if I could

like an abandoned pup.

It’s gone forever

except in my memory

but even that

is a poor reminder.

So I’m etching that image

into the words of this poem

and I’ll look back at it

every now and then.

You might think

I’m a sentimental idiot

and you might be right...

But let me say something

You might never know

just how much

that little gesture of kindness

brightened a dim heart

once upon a time.