Flowers and Weeds

As a kid
he picked flowers
and sometimes weeds
with no mother
or father
he started a library
collecting used books
and carrying them with him
as he moved from this house
to that
until an uncle
found space
for him and his books
while he finished high school
and later he worked odd jobs
here and there
until his knack for drawing
flowers and plants
landed him a job
illustrating for a company
that printed botany books
and much later
after marriage
and two children
they moved to
the countryside
where he collected
flowers and weeds
and drew them
like nobody else
and once a month
he took the train
to downtown Tokyo
and sold just enough
drawing and watercolors
to feed and clothe his family
for one more month
until his children were
old men that lived
and worked in Tokyo
and his wife fell ill
and so quickly
she was gone
and all by himself
he drew and painted
his flowers and weeds
and much later
when the two sons
were cleaning out the old
country house
and while packing
all the books
in cardboard boxes
they discovered
more flowers and weeds
between all the pages
of so many
unread books.