Poetic Reflections — A Harvest

[To see the poem, click here.]

A longtime friend of mine recently had somebody close to her pass away. I wrote this poem as a testimony to their memory. I never got to have the pleasure of meeting them, but from what I knew about them they were a fun-loving kind of person who liked to go out and enjoy the world.

My friend is much the same way. Whereas I’m a more reserved, laid-back kind of person, she has an enthusiastic energy that seeks to experience the thrill of life, including the kind that those like myself would consider a tad too dangerous — think skydiving. I’ve always admired that sort of free-spiritedness about her.

Essentially, that’s what this poem is about — taking the opportunities you have to make the most of what life has to offer. There are obviously limits as to how far you can go with that, but taking chances, facing fears and even breaking a rule or two can be very liberating. It gives us a sense of knowing that we have fulfilled the time that each of us is given. After all, none of us is made to live in this world forever.

The cauliflower and tomato are symbols of the brain and the heart, respectively. As we age, it is tragically often the case that our minds decay along with our bodies until the heart finally gives out. This happened to the person for whom I wrote this poem; they suffered from dementia for some time before passing on.

Still, they were blessed enough to live a long life, and to have people around like my friend who cared about them. Those experiences, among countless others, are ones that many of us can hope to have in our limited lifetime.