Comforting Flowers
The hills, bursting with color,
proudly displayed
their acres of bright orange poppies
and purple lupine to us,
lovers still
after all these years,
walking hand in hand and in awe
of this freely given gift of beauty.
My overwhelmed senses
allowed me to ignore
thunderous clouds of gray,
Pacific waves crashing in the background,
the low gray fog rolling in and
quickly enveloping us
in its womblike wetness.
You stopped,
wind in your hair,
eyes filled with tears.
Ignoring the cool gray air,
you began.
These countless flowers
bursting with joyous color
will witness
what I’m about to say
and bring comfort to you.
That sad smile
is what I remember of you now
as I stand here
again among cascades
of colorful, comforting flowers
surrounding your casket,
and I recall
your last words to me that day
before we descended the hill.
There’s a reason flowers are not gray
Nanci wrote her prize-winning novel, “Tears and Trombones” after teaching and writing college textbooks. Her novel has been chosen many times by local book clubs.
She recently completed the pilot for a streaming series converting the novel into eight episodes for TV. Her short stories and poetry have been published in the CWC Literary Review, The Fault Zone, the CWC Sacramento Anthology, Carry the Light Anthology, Your Daily Poem, Gold Country Writers Anthology, October Hill Magazine, and many other print and online magazines.
Nanci is also an artist and photographer. Samples of her art and writing can be found at: nancileewoody.com or bookcompanion.com.
The hills, bursting with color,
proudly displayed
their acres of bright orange poppies
and purple lupine to us,
lovers still
after all these years,
walking hand in hand and in awe
of this freely given gift of beauty.
My overwhelmed senses
allowed me to ignore
thunderous clouds of gray,
Pacific waves crashing in the background,
the low gray fog rolling in and
quickly enveloping us
in its womblike wetness.
You stopped,
wind in your hair,
eyes filled with tears.
Ignoring the cool gray air,
you began.
These countless flowers
bursting with joyous color
will witness
what I’m about to say
and bring comfort to you.
That sad smile
is what I remember of you now
as I stand here
again among cascades
of colorful, comforting flowers
surrounding your casket,
and I recall
your last words to me that day
before we descended the hill.
There’s a reason flowers are not gray
Nanci wrote her prize-winning novel, “Tears and Trombones” after teaching and writing college textbooks. Her novel has been chosen many times by local book clubs.
She recently completed the pilot for a streaming series converting the novel into eight episodes for TV. Her short stories and poetry have been published in the CWC Literary Review, The Fault Zone, the CWC Sacramento Anthology, Carry the Light Anthology, Your Daily Poem, Gold Country Writers Anthology, October Hill Magazine, and many other print and online magazines.
Nanci is also an artist and photographer. Samples of her art and writing can be found at: nancileewoody.com or bookcompanion.com.