The Notes: A triple Cherita. A cherita tells a story and is written thusly: one line, then two lines, then three lines for a total of six lines. There is no line length, no rhyme, no syllable requirement. This first Cherita is the beginning of a series of poems in my Garden of White Flower Series. This first section is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend Jeff, a sweet and gentle soul. He committed suicide this past June 18, 2018. I miss him dreadfully. I seem to be on a roll here with poems about suicide. I am working on clearing my system of three deaths this past June: my mother and two friends by suicide, all within two weeks of each other.
Garden of White Flowers
“If you are not too long, I will wait here for you, all of my life.” Oscar Wilde
I. Jeff
He loved white flowers in his garden especially bathed in moonlight.
He began his white garden when he interred the ashes of the love of his life,
His lover who died from AIDS thirty five years ago and cremated.
He dug the corner of his yard by hand putting in much sweat equity.
He planted a scented white rose that climbed and then iris bulbs,
Paperwhite narcissus, and wisteria, in the corner with the magnolia tree.
He watered the flowers with his tears and sweat.
Next into the garden he buried his precious Cocker, Duncan –
Rescued from a dog hoarder, abused and starved.
He sat out here often talking to Gabe and Duncan.
He planted more white flowers to breathe their life into him,
He whose loves had all died leaving him alone.
He was sitting in his white garden in the moonlight
When he decided there were enough white lowers, enough memories.
He stroked the petals of the white iris and the white rose
Then went into the house on that beautiful June night.
The next morning he took his cat to the vet to board her for a few days.
He returned home and hung himself, the scents of his garden wafting through the windows.
kanzen sakura 