A cacophony of memories
bounces off the darkened corridors
of her yesterdays;

Ghosts gather round her table
bouquets of flowers and thorns;
a group of garden misfits
uprooted from the dank soil
cultivated in the past.

Lilly waltzing toward her
swaddled in her innocence,
Lila slinking down the passageway
on the pole of her indiscretions.

Two peas in the same pod
spawned in different habitats
varied and diverse
issue of her womb.

Emerging from the shadows
the master gardener hovers,
his entourage of clinging vines
and trailing petunias bringing up the rear.

Her fading vision crafts a vase
enfolding one and all,
to catch the wilted petals
before the last one finally falls.

A sigh engulfs the silence
she slips in sweet repose
into the secret garden
where reclamation plants a rose.