The Apples in My Orchard

“Hi Carol. Dad.”

How I miss those words; the words he said when he called to talk to me. I wonder how long it will be before I can no longer clearly hear his voice in my head. Sadly, with time, I know it will fade.

With my Dad’s recent passing, my thoughts naturally turned to him when I saw today’s prompt was elegy. I’ve read elegies and know what they are, but I’ve never written one. When I sat down today and read more about them on the Poetry Foundation’s website, I knew it was going to take some time before I could write a “proper” elegy for my dad. This is what I came up with for now.

My father was a gardener, always proud of his yard and lawn. In his final season, we cared for his yard for him while he watched. I’m sure it was frustrating for him. One of the last photographs I took of his yard during the previous growing season was of this dinner plate sized hibiscus. It seemed fitting to use it as today’s photo.