grief and holidays

Flowers for No Reason – A poem on the Hope for Widows blog

FLOWERS FOR NO REASON

My life went on without you
I’ve lived through every season
But since you died, the thing I miss
Is flowers for no reason

These Hallmark Holidays, you claimed,
Were not what proved devotion
It was the times lived in between…
Vacations near the ocean

Or evenings on our backyard deck
And private jokes we shared
The hours that we spent side by side
All proved how much you cared

The little trinkets you picked up
The unexpected kiss
The times you cooked a special meal
Those are the things I miss

So on this special day for two
I sit here all alone
But miss you no more than I do
Each day since you’ve been gone

And on this lovers’ holiday
When romance is in season
I know that I miss most of all –
Those flowers for no reason

About the author

Katherine Billings Palmer is a technical writer, poet, and essayist from Garden City, Michigan. She’s won several academic writing awards, including first place in the University of Michigan Dearborn Critical Essay Contest for her work about poet John Donne: “‘The Sun Rising’: A Lover’s Boast.”

In 2017, Katherine’s husband, Rick, died of complications from small cell lung cancer. She wrote a series of poems and essays about her struggles to cope with her grief. I Wanted to Grow Old With You is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.

Her latest book, A Widow’s Words: Grief, Reflection, Prose, and Poetry – The First Year was published in January 2019 and is also available on Amazon.com.

Katherine is a guest blogger for the Hope for Widows Foundation and writes about her grief journey at www.TheWritingWidow.com.

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