Bereaved Parents, Child loss, flowers, garden, inspiration, parenthood, Photography, Poetry, Writing

Choices in the Spring: A Corrie Poem

Corrie's Mom

I could’ve closed the garden gate,
and gone away for good. Let the
weeds surface, and the planters
curse us in wondering why we
would. I could’ve stayed in bed
when I thought the clouds would
never part. But it is my choice to
rise, and not the sun nor the sky’s.
That is not to say there won’t
come days when I will cry, or say,
“I’ll stay here, and walk in the
world another day.” I could’ve
walked past every flower I know
her hand once touched
without ever looking its way.
I could profess I love neither
the spring nor the flowers.
Such lies would bring tears
to my daughter’s eyes.

I will open the garden gate,
and take my daughter’s
puppy for a walk. The plants
given in Corrie’s honor begin
to blossom all around the farm.
I will wear my rain coat and boots
just in case it pours, and I will try
to smile knowing my daughter
always tried to water flowers in
the rain. So I see the flowers
grow, and I profess I love them
still. For upon the sight of them,
who can forget her?
I know I never will.

Progress on the wall, and the plants so kindly donated for Corrie’s garden have been cared for. Some are beginning to bloom.

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Published by Corrie's Mom

They say teacher turn over is high right now, and many teachers will leave the profession in five years or less. I will enter my seventh year as a full-time teacher, and my 12th year in education after I'd started as a sub and teacher assistant. I was the student in the 1990s you did not want in your classroom because I was diagnosed with ADHD and did not know how to socialize with other kids. I was due to be tested for autism, but this was considered an ostracizing experience for a child then, especially a girl. I am a third generation teacher and author of seventeen creative works.

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