Flowers In a Wooden Basin With Holes by Selma Martin

Woman in the Garden of Monsieur ForestHenri de Toulouse-Lautrec French

1889–9. Public Domain: 

Flowers In a Wooden Basin With Holes

In an old wooden basin with holes, 
I planted gardenias for your repose 
down by the ditch where no one goes 
I left the basin where lilacs grow

and return to the life you vacated. 
I visit ‘tween showers every April,
and regard the blooms beguiled.  
I stand still to let a drunken bee pass

and a moth to finalize her consultation.
At my turn, I reach for your petals,
silky smooth—reminds of your cold lips.
I cut one and wrap it in my apron

and promise to visit next year, God willing.
In the meantime, you'll abide with me in old
tunes, in poetry, and the indivisible fire of
my heart, while I bide my time and wait to 
cross over to that side of the river with you. 

©️ Selma Martin

Selma Martin

Selma Martin is a retired English teacher with 20 years of experience teaching ESL to children. She believes in people’s goodness and in finding balance in simple living. She lives in Japan with her husband of 35 years. In 2018, Selma participated in a networking course that culminated in a final lesson to publish a story on Amazon. She completed the course and self-published her short story, "Wanted: Husband/Handyman," in 2019. Later, collaborating with peers from that course, she published "Wanted: Husband/Handyman" in "Once Upon A Story: A Short Fiction Anthology." Selma has published stories on Medium for many years, in MasticadoresUSA, The Poetorium at Starlight, Short Fiction Break, Lit eZine, and Spillwords. In July 2023, she published her debut poetry collection, In the Shadow of Rainbows (Experiments in Fiction). You can find Selma as selmawrites on Instagram and Twitter, and on her website, selmamartin.com.

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