I didn’t say happy birthday.
I didn’t see you, I didn’t text,
I only thought about it.
You were the sugar in my tea,
The nectar from flowers the bees
Spend their whole lives looking for.
But I didn’t know to look;
You just came floating down
From a cherry tree in spring
Into my hands, kissing my palms with your petals.
Between last year and this one
I learned some about you, but never knew you.
Goodbye was the most meaningful word we ever shared.
Even so,
May you have forever pleasant,
Fresh, and luminescent,
Hellos,
and Happy Birthdays.
-N. Trepiak
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