(autumn, maple leaves, image by Jimmy Lau, on Pixabay)
FROM HER HOSPITAL WINDOW
Winter comes
early
some years
burdens October
branches
already laden
by dry leaves
with weight of wet
snow
some bend
more break
Flowers lift
autumn colors
to the sun
only to feel
cold flakes
in their petals
Heroic leaves
and stems slump
finally
give in
Then she wilts
minute by lengthy minute
rosebud in the snow
until ice wind
carries her away
© Veronica Michalowski, April 3, 2019, about her sister, Paula
(b. July 25, 1946 , d. October 10, 1991)
____________________
A graduate of California State University, Fullerton, Veronica Michalowski received her
B.A. and M.A. in Fine Arts, Design and Photography. Her career focused in the fields
of ideation, branding, marketing, having created for such firms as Microsoft, Epson, Canon USA, Neutrogena, Crayola, Calaway Golf, Geoffrey Beane, Sunkist, and Mattel,
as well as many California wineries. She received both national and international recognition and many awards, including two CLIO Awards. She has taught fine arts
at California State University, Fullerton, as well as Riverside City College, Mount San Antonio College, and Laguna College of Art and Design. She continues to design
and paint, travel, read everything, and write often.