No ode for you, periwinkles
No exalted verse or prose
No lover's gift you will be
Unlike the regal rose
Not placed in summer bouquets
In vases - never seen
Nor gracing dark tresses
Nor found in floats of dreams
Yet sweet you are to me
Happy in blue and white
With your merry little faces
Like fairies and lithe sprites.

She sells flowers in little bunches,
Sweet fragrances that please,
Delicate sepals of life,
That softly speak.

Bouquets of living colours,
Petals of inspiration,
Roses, chrysanthemums,
Daisies, carnations.
Accent blossoms, gerberas,
Lilies smiling in myriad hues,
Sunflowers a darling yellow,
Vibrant orchids in splendour blue.

With her touch, beauty breathes,
Glorious blossoms thrive,
Delicately arranged,
Floral expressions come alive.

For new love that slowly blooms,
For confessions yet to be said,
The finest of her finest,
She ribbons roses dark rich red.

Fond good health thoughts,
Through florals expressed,
She’ll wrap with gentle care,
With love’s tenderness impress.

She’ll weave wreathes and garlands,
Blends of wistful white, blues, pinks,
For memories left behind,
Now distant imprints.

In sweet scents, she colours days, months, years,
Walks alone each night when she is done,
Back home, no florid fragrance fills her senses,
To colour her world there is no one.

I have boxes of memories
Well-marked and stored
And I am adding new ones
So that there are many more
Though life is not a rainbow
Nor is there sunshine all the way
I can still laugh and smile
And box a memory every day

Grateful for the blue skies
For the warmth of a day 
For soft drops of rain

For lilac buds and trees 
Dancing leaves 
For ocean waves on sandy grains. 

Grateful for what is seen 
Touched, felt 
In whispers heard

The moment that soaks in 
The little joys of life 
Midst the spinning of the world.

Grateful for wine and water
Fruit of orchards
Seasons that shed

For hands that help 
Eyes that speak 
With words unsaid.

Grateful for those who love 
For the wind behind
Feathered wings

For angels that twinkle 
Through the stars 
And the light they bring.

Grateful for kindness 
Tenderness 
Hugs in gentle embrace

Grateful for smiles 
That come my way 
That my fingers love to trace.

Grateful for rays of hope 
That fill a cup 
Then glimmer on the rim

Grateful for you 
And the quiet presences 
For the gift of life and Him.

Dotted in the dusky sky 
Spinning wonders in the eye 
Glowing white in ivory 
On a night of ebony 

There's mystic magic in the air
With golden robes that you wear
Nights in white satin soaked 
As in the sky, you gently float

What mysteries in you dwell 
Weaving charms and casting spells
Kindled hearts each night you win 
With moonlit dreams that you spin 

Surrounded by a million stars 
That hide and seek from afar 
And twinkle as if on a cue —
Nights are dreary without you

Don't wrap me in a hearse of gloom
When it's time for me to go 

Don't drape yourself in black or white 
But in the colours of a rainbow

Shed no tears of death in life 
Let your heart feel no  pain 

For I will be in a sky of blue
With sunshine in a frame 

Spread my ashes far in a river 
I'll flow and meet the sea 

On waves of moon bathed silver 
Sailing I shall be 

Leave me too with flowers 
With marigolds I will stay

A whim of floral frenzy 
Will touch the sombre  grey 

I, a part of earth and water 
Why mope and sigh and grieve  

Burned by flames of pure fire 
I'll float like a feather on a leaf 

Though with a cry we arrive 
There's laughter when we're born 

Let the smiles linger on
Why make it oh, forlorn 

No tears of death in life 
No crease, no sorrow's crinkle

Think of me with happiness 
And know me in a twinkle 

Don't wrap me in a hearse of gloom 
When it's time for me to go 

Don't drape me in black or white 
But in the colours of a rainbow