The Garden Bench

by Pauline Harley
(Dublin Ireland)

No flowers grow no solar lights glow
The weeds they grow and the wind it blows
As it drops empty plant pots and seeds to the ground below
A garden bench where hours were spent slowly rusting away each day
It makes my heart break as I see the paint work flake if only I had the strength to
Bring it back to life for my mom’s sake
And dad he sighs your death was his demise
He wonders why it is him still here alive
As the garden withers slowly away
There’s nothing he can do to take his pain away
No more joy comes from the place we used to play
Perhaps maybe again someday?
The thorns on the roses might as well pierce his heart
It’s been broken since the day you had to depart
The birds still visit for their food
He still feeds them despite his mood
A robin red breast nose pressed against the window glass
Almost as if to ask when will it pass?
The two mourning doves sitting cooing on the shed
As the sun goes down slowly behind their sleepy heads
And when summer arrives in come the white butterflies
Perhaps it’s to remind us that your soul is still alive
Their pretty white wings flapping in the sunshine
They’ve come to remind us that things will work out fine
And only then will the flowers begin to grow, the sun will shine
Solar lights will once again glow
Your spirit will bring the garden back to life
And dad will get back a piece of his beautiful wife
And oh what a beautiful sight it will be
When we sit together on that old garden bench
Restored with love in memory of how much you meant
Just dad and I and your spirit roaming free
In your garden a place where we know you’ll always be