Haibun - Songs in the Key of Love

Songs in the Key of Love

it had been over three years since i had been
to our country house in New England. my aunt
Leslie had been with us, before we knew about
the lung cancer that would spread to her brain.
as i drove along the winding road to pine lane,
i could hear again her voice filled with anguish,
"hortensia please, please tell me about death"
and my refusal unlike the others, to lie. "i don't
know. i only know that i have you in my heart
always." "thank you" she said and lapsed into a
coma that night, dying the next day. turning into
our driveway, i caught the sun glinting off the two
sets of windchimes we had both bought my mother.
they were still hanging on the apple tree. although
we hadn't known that the other was bringing them,
we both chose windchimes with the same notes.

sunlight through tears --
small breezes carry songs
through green leaves