Saying it with Flowers

‘Something came up.
Really sorry, my sweet...’
So came the message
with every bouquet,
most birthdays; even
our fifth anniversary...

We were supposed
to be going on that trip
to France, on Eurostar.
Went with Millie
instead, if you recall.

Had a whale of a time...
all that shopping –
an evening
at the folies bergers.
Your loss, not mine...
my philosophy.

Forgive me, won’t you,
if I smile...even though
smiling’s frowned upon
in places like this
I should imagine.

So what? I couldn’t
give a flying fig!
Only, I’ve just seen
the funny side; admiring,
as I was, the engraving
on your headstone...

and those lovely roses –
blood-red, of course.
I must say, it makes
quite a change – me
sending you flowers...

Yet, what goes around,
comes around, eventually,
and what more fitting
an epitaph could there be
than, ‘Something came up’,
as is blatantly obvious,
darling...it did.