1954

the bell rang three chimes

a boy walked in, no older

than fourteen at best

he asked if we had

purple roses with their thorns

clipped off of the stems

they were for a girl

he said, he didn't want her to

cut her skin on thorns

1964

the boy, now the man

had gotten the same flower

every day for ten years

the same purple rose

with the point thorns clipped off

to protect his love

at one point i must

have asked the boy, the man, who

his roses were for

he simply smiled at

me and said they were for the

most beautiful girl

1969

the man walked to me

a bounce in his step unlike

i had seen before

his face was aglow

lit with a beautiful smile

a ring in his hand

he asked if i could

weave the ring through a bouquet

of purple roses

i had nearly swooned

and I wasn't the one being wed

I said of course, yes

1979

the most beautiful

wedding i will ever see

purple roses bloom

ten years later and

trying for kids on the way

names already picked

if a girl, charlotte

and if a boy, sebastian

they put both to use

siblings, family

mom and dad, char and sebby

happy and carefree

1989

sebastian and charlotte

they are just over ten now

the man, he still buys the rose

there are three of them

now, one purple, pink, and blue

wife, daughter, and son

i have seen them grow

from infants to toddlers and

now to fifth graders

they don’t know who i

am, but that’s okay, i guess

i’ll just watch, sidelined

1997

kids heading off to

college, i’ve seen the man with his baseball hats

with their college name on it

charlotte and sebastian are going to the

hot hot world of california

i will stay in my flower shop until they come back

to buy more flowers and reminisce in the roses

their dad gave them when they were kids

but the man still comes into the shop i think

i think he’s sending the flowers to them from

across the country

this family, this family is beautiful

i don’t have a family but that’s okay

maybe i’ll get there one day

2000

im too old now to stand at the counter and

clip the roses for the man and his big big family

i sit in a little wheelchair by the window

and he knows me he knows me

he waves everyday

he buys a flower for me, red, my favorite color

i wonder how he knows that

he speaks to me but i can’t remember

what he says

his voice is familiar but i just can’t remember

“mom, how are you doing today? are you feeling better than yesterday?”

he said those words to me and for a moment

a moment

i remembered

my little boy, my little ryan

running through the rain

tripping on a bump in the pavement

so i kissed his forehead and handed him a rose

a white rose and held the thornless stem

to his cheek

“i clipped off the thorns for you so they wouldn’t hurt you. it’ll be already, baby.”

then it was gone the little boy was gone

and there was a man standing over my chair

staring at me holding my arm

i began to cry because i was scared but he wrapped me in his arms

he pressed a red rose to my cheek

“it’ll be okay, mama. i love you and i know you’ll remember me eventually.”