Author Information
The Flower Wreath Lady
By
Richard Haesche
I have a little story that
I think I should bequeath,
T'was told me by a man I knew
Whose name was simply, "Keith."
"One day, while walking in the park,
Among the evergreen,
I was feeling pretty lonely
When I chanced upon a scene.
"A gray-haired lady sat there
Weaving lovely wreaths of flowers.
She'd filled a basket by her side
That must have taken hours.
"I watched her supple fingers fly
With swift, determined will,
And stared with rapt amazement
As I wondered at her skill.
"Her clothes were rather shabby
Showing patches, here and there,
But her kindly smile suggested
That she didn't seem to care.
"I guess she didn't notice
As I stood by quietly,
So I moved a little closer
Hoping she would talk with me.
"But still she didn't notice
From those eyes that seemed so kind,
When suddenly I realized
That her staring eyes were blind.
"My heart filled up with sadness
As I held my tears at bay,
She reminded me of Mother
In some long, forgotten way.
"I was just above a toddler
As we'd sailed across the sea,
And I remembered Daddy
As I bounced upon his knee.
"Then, from somewhere deep within me,
My heart remembered well,
As the water rose around us,
And I heard my Daddy's yell.
"He passed me to a sailor
Who put me in a boat.
I remember being frightened
As we fought to stay afloat.
"They told me Dad and Mommy
Would follow us ashore,
But something whispered to me
I'd not see them anymore.
"I grew up as an orphan
With three hundred other boys.
And since my folks had left me
I missed lots of growing joys.
"Now, here I am, successful,
Fame and fortune's just a bore.
I've a sadness deep within me
That I've known since I was four.
"All at once, without my thinking
of a single reason why,
I was humming some old tune I knew,
...a baby's lullaby.
"The flower lady stiffened
and she dropped her flowered wreath.
She stretched her arms across to me
and said, "Is that you, Keith?"
"I fought to keep the tears away,
She took me by surprise.
And then it all came back to me,
I finally realized,
"A picture framed within my mind,
I knew she was no other,
That little gray-haired lady
weaving flowers... was my Mother!”
HI!!!!!!!! How are you, excellent poem by the way.....hey what is your e-mail address....i finally got a computer....also I need liz klein's too, so i can work on the book......i tried k-design, nada...
love jeannie
The Flower Wreath Lady indeed deserved to win the contest....it is a splendidly passionate and visual poem...wonderful work of art.....Poetier
WOW...you are an amazing writer! Hopefully I too will be this outstanding someday. This poem is very beautiful, I'm sure you've heard this before, but your poem brought tears to my eyes, I even wanted my Mother to read it. The fact that is rhyms so well is the best part, most people cant tell such a story so clearly and make it rhym. Very very nice, thanx for the great read! :-D
Hi Richard,
I thought your poem was very moving, at the end, I got goosebumps. Look forward to seeing more of your work, you are so talented.
It reminded me of how I love my mum who died over twenty years ago.
This is one of the most touching poems I have read in quite a while, I relate to the way you write and what you write about, but you have written it with much more feeling than I ever could.