Fenced In

This is a letter written by an elderly person I loved. Your photo brings it to mind.

August 2010

Today I did walk. I thought about going out to the road and down, like Jim and I used to do before he lost his sight. Instead, I went over to the garden and all around. I like walking by myself. My back is not straight, but it doesn’t hurt.

He used to keep the garden so neat. It’s nothing like it was. An odd thing– I found a single gladiolus, coming up between the post and the fence. How did it ever find its way there? Where did it come from? Nobody planted it. Such a sad little blossom, bent to grow in that tight place, part in, part out.

He is so good. He always says he likes it when I describe what I see. Maria sent me a photo of a water lily, ripples of water passing underneath, so clear. So perfect, you can’t imagine, he would just love it. I want so much to show it to him. I don’t know how to tell you.

I wish I could write a poem about that gladiolus.