For the first few nights she waited patiently
beside the bed of night-blooming primroses.
She would arrive shortly after nine
to join me in watching the flowers unfurl

their petals one by one. As each yellow face
appeared she jumped up and down with delight.
It felt good to have our feelings expressed
with such a lack of inhibition.

As the days of summer shortened, showtime
grew later and the wait longer. One night
she arrived at the given time and announced,

I’m sorry but I have other things to do
beside stand around and wait for silly
flowers to bloom.

And off she went on her pink two-wheeler.

—Elaine Parker Akin