Transplanted

 for Lillian Havenga (1922 ~ 2021)

Lily-of-the-Valley

always grew under the thornapple

next to the trout stream

on your spacious farm.

You always admired them;

large linear leaves

with tiny, delicate blossoms,

petite like you always were.

I laid on my belly

to photograph them one spring,

and gave the photo to you

for your 97th birthday,

as you laid on your back

in your narrow bed in the home;

all of us knowing you wouldn't

be seeing them growing again.

But they still grow there,

and in the spring I will go there

to transplant some lilies 

into the ground around 

the gravestone for you and Dad.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grand Haven, Michigan (by Mary Havenga)