The Rose Poem by Linda Hepner

For Abigail

He plucked her a rose
the first of the spring
a rose for his daughter
the first of his offspring.
His daughter was leaving
returning to
her other life where
her other family waited
so that her children hung between
like baubles suspended by
four taut equal strings.
He gave her the rose,
Remember home, he said, and she, leaving:
What a shame, since flowers die
and then she left
while his lips smiled
but his heart ached,
She’s young she doesn’t pause to love, he said.
And so he drove
a block or two to keep his heart
at bay when like a meteor
another car came hurtling…
he swerved and stopped, his heart pounding
the ache gone…
His life flashed –
no not that cliché – but his
sights changed, his mind a telescope
shifting and seeing new stars,
a brand new cluster
existing for billions
revealed this moment.
“I’m so happy
he said,
I’m happy
to be alive
to be free, to be loving, to be with you
to have my senses;
one day she’ll know
all this, he said
and then she called,
“I’m home” she said,
“I just want you to know
that what I’m doing right now
is putting your rose
into a vase
and it smells so sweet,
that’s all, must go, bye Dad! ”
He said, “Rose called” and smiled
“I didn’t realize she knows it all, ”
and his smile
hung like a bauble
swinging from two, freeing lips.


(4.7.07)