there is a wildness in flowers
that cannot be restrained

green goes to yellow
and what is lost returns
a thousand times a day

coneflowers will not obey
the rules and return as roses
in the middle of a sunny afternoon

melodies remembered
as one song return again
half forgotten half remembered

this is how I feel
where did we meet
so long ago
that I cannot forget

was I young
was I beautiful
was I full of hope

did you turn
around too quickly
leave too suddenly
stay too long
were we lovers
friends
strangers
lingering
in a distant garden
talking of cherry blossoms
the weather
a favorite song

the flowers know their fate
they keep it to themselves
they linger by the roadside
and leave at dawn
I’ve stayed too long

I thought that I would
come again this spring
but death stepped in
and took someone too young
it wasn’t me
I stayed behind
I grieve for him

and this is what I know of life
it’s all we have
the good
the bad
are all the same

we’ll meet again
it is our fate
and like the cherry blossom tree
we’ll shed our memories
to love once more
to speak to strangers
on a sunny day
to smile to pause
and then to walk away