Mom’s favorite flower due to the scent.
Spent her last months with us in hospice.
Bought her a gardenia Yankee Candle
Lit it for her daily to mask the rotting flesh
the rancid, foul odor of death.

She smiled as I lit it and thanked me
as she lay so helpless in that twin bed.
Covered in blankets as she grew cold.
I would curl and spoon with her and
tell her I loved her. I know dear she
would answer.

 When she passed, I kept the room closed.
Got upset if anyone left it open. My husband
Said you are trying to hold onto her with
the scent of the gardenia. He was right.