The End (summary of a divorce)

when the leaves began to curl
and the Hibiscus dropped its petals
of pink, red, and goldenrod
the wind stopped pushing the chimes
which I bought you so many years before

this garden we had made together
soured in the summer heat
despite the care we gave it
not the dead-heading nor the irrigation
could stop this green to brown transition. our harbinger.

the Clematis failed their purple reign
and the fish, now choked in algae
no longer swam to greet us
as the Wisteria failed its bloom
and the Jasmine no longer filled our senses

the Palms now ceased their gentle sway
leaving silence where their sounds once brought us peace
the birds no longer nested, new life not meant for us
and when the goldfinch did not return
as they had each 24 years before, I knew it was the end