This Year's Violas

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers. ~Basho

This year's violas.
Always my first flowers of spring.
They make my heart sing.

They make me glad
They make me forget
They make me remember

My aged heart might
occasionally break
My aged body might
occasionally ache

Still my violas
wave at me
and when I
remember to look
Smile.

I close my eyes
Feel my sadness
crack, flake away
and I smile back.
~me