Wisteria

Four years ago, my friend Amanda and I

Drove to Richmond for a viewing.

After a long battle, our friend’s mother had passed.

And as we drove the miles, I gasped.

Gorgeous purple tree after purple tree,

Like a Dr. Seuss book, except more vivid.

“What is that amazing plant?”

Surprised I didn’t know, the answer came:

“Wisteria.”

How lovely that the word was not 

“Splooch,” or something else 

Easily forgettable and vaguely off-putting,

But glorious and evocative.

And now, every spring,

I drive past wisteria,

And every spring it’s a reminder to me:

This is a season of loss.

And I remember my friend

And her mother.