Floral entreaties

You knew I was naive, you knew I was a lover

Of exotic flowers of every hue and color

So I was carried away when you sent

Expensive flowers to impress me, my friend

Accompanied by tasteful cards, handwritten

Etched with soulful poetry, you knew I was smitten

From humongous hybrid roses to orchids rare

I cherished every bouquet, treated them with utmost care

Knowing you had gone to great lengths to procure

Those lilies, dahlias and carnations, I am sure

You sacrificed items of need so that flowers you could buy

Every want of mine you wanted to satisfy..

**

As the years passed, our love morphed

Considerably, romantic gestures were dwarfed

By the daily grind of life, and both of us forgot

About gifting flowers, we missed it not

Thirty years later we found found ourselves occupied

In planning our daughter’s wedding, when I spied

The most breathtaking floral arrangement

For the wedding arch, everyone was in agreement

That the flowers I chose would look the best,

We commissioned the florist, putting the matter to rest

But..the image stirred some old memories inside me

I looked lost in dreams, you noticed; I did see..

**

I was busy in the hubbub of wedding planning

There was more to it than flowers, I was busy scanning

Every aspect of the wedding, appropriately anxious

As the mother of the bride, in the midst of this fuss

As I was getting ready, there was a knock on my door

On opening, the surprise I got left me floored

There was a huge bouquet that could only be described

As a floral connoisseur’s dream, my eyes opened wide

And duly attached to the bouquet was a card that contained

Mushy poetry, everything was just the same

As it had been thirty years ago, I cannot describe

The mixture of emotions that swelled up inside..

**

Happy to receive the flowers, I went outside

Watched with moist eyes my girl as the bride

She looked so radiant, and so did you

You had another surprise for us too

You made your speech and then there appeared

A gigantic bouquet, which was multi-tiered

That you presented to the groom and the bride

With anecdotes of how you had woo’ed your bride

This was something our daughter had not known

In giving her away, we gave her a tradition of our own..