The sunlight dazzles in the breeze sparkling its way through the window
The rays of the sun touch my brow and embrace the body in full splendor
The roses you loved, the magnolia you planted, the jasmine you potted
The roses have withered, magnolia stands tall, the jasmine blooms in all its charm
The breeze is slow, birds are silent, profound is the message, listen to the silence
The complexity of life unfolded in the simplicity of nature and the beauty of time
The leaves and the buds on the trees, some bloom others not, sun shines on them all
The wind blows and the rain falls, the magnolia stands in the open and doesn’t fall
I touch the string of pearls around my neck, each pearl a story, every bead a memory
I look around in silence, and feel the warmth, the scent, the embrace, in all its grace
I haven’t lost you but saved you in my heart, a soft place, a sacred memory, a quiet joy
I am down and dull but reminded of what you said, “have some chai and think of me”
So here I am, sipping my chai, thinking of you, speaking your name, its February again.
Samina Salim is Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacological & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston
It’s a touching poem–as gentle as the author touching the string of pearls around her neck. It’s a touching memorial to a lost loved one; lost, perhaps, in a previous winter, but gently remembered as spring and “warmth” approach. It’s a poem about grief and sadness restrained, and overcome with “sacred memory” and “quiet joy.” A splendid poem about love and perpetuity….