The little bonsai plant that I bought for my wife for Mother’s Day in 2021 has finally died. We took it with us when we moved from our apartment to our house late last year.

My bonsai tree. Photo by Francis DiClemente.

And sitting on the kitchen countertop, it bloomed a couple of flowers—which we considered a positive sign. But despite consistent watering and stints in the sun, the plant has turned dry and brown. And I know there’s nothing left to do but throw it in the trash.

Bonsai plant, summer 2023.

But one thought came to me while I studied its desiccated leaves and branches, which I’ll arrange into a little verse:

Just because
the bonsai plant died
doesn’t mean
it didn’t have
a good life.