April's Sorrow
Updated: Apr 5, 2019
Grandma Marilyn Ward, April 1927-April 2018
When cherry blossoms fluttered,
Falling gently down,
Unloosing hold on living limb
To spin, and spin, and spin
Then she fell too,
Though sky outside was blue
And robins came to feed
On Grandma’s offered seed.

A day we would’ve tried to breathe
Fresh air and feel the sun
Despite the breeze.
We may have even pulled some weeds
Before the evening chill drove us away,
Inside, like you are now at half past noon.
And when I turned my back
your breathing slowed—too soon! too soon!
The month that saw your birth in early days
Now, nearing May, receives your body,
Falling, buried in the womb of earth-to-earth
To lie.
We die
Until green growth goes forth,
Called up by Sun’s strong, sudden force,
alive.
by Rebekah Pringle Yamada
© April 30, 2018