the jacarandas

The jacarandas

when they flower

always remind me of my grandfather. 

That quiet man 

who sat in his chair

in the corner

watching the rest of us. 

So many times
he spoke of how the streets of his hometown 

were carpeted with purple

every spring 

when the jacarandas flowered.

That first spring 

after he died 

I cried when I realized

that he wouldn't see them bloom 

This year

Or ever again. 

2016-04-15