That girl in "The Grapes of Wrath?"
Well, I had a bush by the same name.
Okay, it wasn't exactly "my" bush...
Technically speaking---
It was in my neighbor's backyard.
A fence covered the lower part.
I THINK it was a Rosa-Sharn---
It had long limbs
That came up out of the ground,
And got reddish-purple flowers
'Long about mid-July!
As I sat in my Lazy-Boy in the den
My Rosa-Sharn was framed by our
Sliding glass door. Right there---it
Always was---soon as I sat down.
Early in the mornings, there to.the east
The sunlight danced on its moving limbs.
All day it gracefully and effortlessly swayed
In the breezes which which are
constant here...as if it well-knew
Its mission in this world.
Not a lazy bush, when sunset came
It was still doing its job.
It was the last thing I saw before dark.
I watched it grow up, for twenty-eight years...
It grew to fifteen feet tall...or more...
It was a FRIEND.
When fall came, its leaves turned and fell.
All the drab winter, it looked cold out there,
Its denuded limbs still blowing back and forth
Even In the rain and snow.
This spring, being occupied with various things,
One day I thought: "When is my Rosa-Sharn
gonna get green?" Something wasn't right.
Something didn't jibe visually in my mind!
All of a sudden, a pang stabbed my heart!
"Honey, did Percival (the neighbor)
Cut down our Rosa-Sharn?!"
It was gone. He DID.
Our neighbor, who has a penchant for
cutting down bushes and trees---
(He has already cut down six)
Had gone and taken our beautiful
bush out of our lives. Why?
It's going to be a long winter...and spring...
and ever...without my friend.
There'll always be a vacant spot
out my den window
from my easy chair...
That can never be filled...when I look out
Dozens of times a day.
Maybe it is a metaphor for many other
Dear friends of life
Who are gone
And can never be replaced.
*******30*******
BY MIL
8/17/13
Sent from my iPad
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