“Lo, how a rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!” -Traditional Carol 

He thinks it’s strange
that I keep flowers from funerals 
Delight in their petals
Rejoice at their scent

Every time he sees it –
He calls it my death flower
Says it reminds him
that he is going to die.
Or that he is already dead-
That we die a little more each day-
And that makes him sad.

But I see it and think-
What a lovely rose!
What a triumph that it lives!

Prose

In the past, my spouse has teased me, saying that I have a "moribudnity for flowers." Often, when I preside at a funeral, people will invite me to tak...

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