All we have to decide is what to do with the time we are given.

Gandalf to Frodo--Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring



Knockout Roses and Bleeding Hearts

By the time I chucked my work duds,
donned my Pineapple Willy's t-shirt and a pair
of shorts, loaded my shovel and my shoes,
it was late afternoon. The days are growing
shorter, the shadowing afternoons longer.

I didn't expect her to be back from the nursing
home by then. She doesn't like to leave Gene
there alone to fight this fuzziness that has inhabited
his brain. So she stays until visiting hours are over,
but fatigue had made itself uncomfortably at home that day,
and her heart, 87 now and growing weary with worry,
skipped around so much she wasn't sure she'd make it home
for another tv dinner.

I bought the knockout rose and bleeding heart
on her 87th,


Maybe I'll work on this and shape it into something. I did get the rose and bleeding heart planted and Marie was so grateful. She said it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her.