A Year Later
I taste scrambled eggs covered
with cheddar cheese, and topped with toasted walnuts,
inhale the scent of a Honeycrisp apple just opened
with a two-handled slicer, a gift from a friend.
Lilacs nod their lavender heads above my table.
The scent of childhood is everywhere.
A Mother’s Day bouquet, German iris and yellow tulips rest
on the glass table we bought at Klingman’s together so many years ago.
Cardinals and yellow finches wait in the trees for a turn at my feeder.
A red male presents his mate the gift of a sunflower seed.
The dogwood we brought from the old house
has spread its arms and blossoms again.
Pots of parsley, thyme, basil and chive thrive on my deck.
Two apple trees let go of petals,
that blend like pink and white confetti,
as they have every year.
I hear bird song.
My husband is dead,
but I am still here.
—
Linda Leedy Schneider, a psychotherapist in private practice and a poetry mentor, was awarded The Contemporary American Poetry Prize by Chicago Poetry. Linda has written six collections of poetry including Through My Window: Poetry of a Psychotherapist and edited two poetry anthologies, Poems From 84th Street and Mentor’s Bouquet. She leads workshops for the International Women’s Writing Guild and founded The Manhattan Writing Workshop.
THE BIG WINDOWS REVIEW 
A revelation of joy and satisfaction emerging after terrible loss, the flowering of new life. Beautifully told.
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