Post by Daniel Mark Extrom on Apr 12, 2014 20:17:06 GMT -6
An Orchid For Gloria
I surely do remember
that day so long ago
when we first discovered
the love that came to grow.
I remember springtime
and storms that it would bring—
lightning, rain and thunder—
causing us to wonder
if darkened skies
and squinting eyes
marked the end of winter
and the coming then of spring.
It really didn’t matter,
for I learned something new:
I could weather any storm
if I could be with you.
And then we saw the tulips
and the orchids too,
dancing in a gentle breeze—
white and pink and blue.
Nothing planned
I held your hand
and orchids marked a time of life—
the start of something new.
And the beauty of the orchids
made it all so clear:
I knew that you loved me
and you knew I loved you.
You planted them
with loving hands
and nurtured them along.
And then one day they’d blossom forth,
reminding us again
that love survives
throughout our lives
in sometimes strange and special ways—
a chorus in a favorite song.
___
And so we saw the orchids
as a measure of our lives,
peeking from the soil in spring,
showing us what love can bring.
In spite of all the storms to come,
unknowing then what we’d become,
still we’d know that we would thrive;
still we’d know that love survives;
and then we’d know what orchids knew:
that life and love are everything.
The beauty that the orchids brought
comes again each spring
to remind me of the love you brought
and continue still to bring.
You have been my lover;
you have been my friend;
and all these years the orchids came,
reminding me again
that I have always loved you
and I’ll love you to the end.
Take this little orchid
and hold it in your hand.
I know that you’ll remember
and you’ll understand.
There was something that we learned that day
so very long ago:
Life is more than what we’ve planned
or even what we know.
Against the storms that came our way,
we learned to take a stand;
we learned to stay together,
to weather every storm.
We saw how love could blossom
and then we made it grow.
Though life has turned out differently
than we might have planned,
there are some things that have not changed
from so long ago:
you still love an orchid,
and I love to hold your hand.
Daniel Mark Extrom
Note: This was a commissioned love poem; that is, a number of years ago, a very kind man asked me to write something to honor his wife, then still living, who suffered from Alzheimer's Disease. Both were then in their early 80's. He wanted this etched on picture matting, and he wanted to feature two photos, one taken of his wife by their granddaughter, and the other showing his wife tending to her orchids. He was a crusty, retired engineer who had been quite successful, and he didn't seem like someone who would like or read poetry. But he wanted something to honor his wife, who has since died. He told me he could not read this all the way through without getting teary-eyed. He still has it in a frame in his home, and I like to think I gave him, and his family, an heirloom.
When I wrote it, I sort of invented the scene described at the beginning because he was not really the sentimental sort, but he found the description quite agreeable, and I felt we needed something as a lead-in to the orchids, which was the theme that he wanted for the piece. He loved it, he said. He was sad that he and his wife could not enjoy the retirement that they had planned and imagined for themselves, because Alzheimer's took its course on her. I loved writing this, and his tears and smile told me I had captured what he wanted.
I enjoy writing things like this: I learn a lot about people I might otherwise never know, and for a little while, I get to feel like I am a small part of their family, and they will have a poetic memory to display as long as they want, maybe even for another generation or two. Kind of cool, I think.
