Glimmer of Hope: Love Beyond the Rose and the Thorn

"I love.

I love roses.

I love red roses;

I don't love the thorns."

A rambling rose,

The perfect, sweet scented,

Rambling rose of June,

Gently touched by one dewdrop,

Quivers momentarily,

Knowing it is loved.

Standing on the fragile doorstep of time,

A tall, but kindly man

Sprouting a gray beard,

Tips his hat

As if to say "Good morning,"

To the waking world

Deep within the heart of the rambling rose;

"I will give you to my love."

The rambling rose graciously nods its head;

The dew drop falling to the ground like a tear,

The rambling rose aware that in consenting;

Its time has come.

"You are beautiful and you are loved,"

He explains to it tenderly,

As he severs its life line

With a firm, but gentle cut;

"If my pain was to endure, I'd surely die.

My love will live on through you."

"You have given me a perfect, rambling rose."

"I will not bore you with my thorns."

The rose hip lives on;

As he hangs it upside-down to dry

And then plants it.

"I will see you again."

Love lives on beyond the rose and thorn.

The rose hip lives on.