I happened upon a rose bush
growing in the wild
their petals a vibrant red
their scent was sweet and mild
I reached to pluck a flower
the pin up in my hair
when a voice from behind me
beckoned me leave it there
I turned to see an old woman
bent over with obvious age
her face was kind and gentle
her voice was free of rage
she didn't mean to scare me
she said with a kindly grin
you should stop to smell the roses
but leave them to smell again
she said that she planted the rose
many many years ago
it was a gift from her husband
and she had loved him so
It grew here every year
more lovely than the year before
much like the love they shared
for fifty years or more
he had died today she said
twenty years ago
we like to meet here on this day
to watch our roses grow
I'd bent my head for a moment
to again breath the fragrance in
and when I rose to speak
there was no one where she'd been
where she went I wondered
and I saw when I did stand
vanishing in the distance
the couple hand in hand
a love to last the ages
even an eternity
they stopped to smell the roses
it was as it is meant to be.
Thank you!! My common sense tell me to take my chunky butt to bed, you know work and all, but another part of me says awww shucks 6 hours of sleep is
plenty!