Like A Rose

You, a friend, are like a rose.
There may be some thorns,
A little mildew at times.
But your inner sweetness glows,
And your smile lights up the day.
Just as rose petals unfurl,
To make a perfect flower,
A flower which freely gives
Its innermost sweet perfume;
Like a many splendored jewel,
You are like a shining star.
You, my friend, are like a rose.

                               By Ralph S. Moore

October Garden by Christina Rossetti

With Autumn comes the vibrant display of majestic color of fall.  The roses will be blooming again for their final glory.  I share my sentiment with Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) during the rose’s final display.

In my Autumn garden I was fain

To mourn among my scattered roses,

Alas for that last rosebud that uncloses

To Autumn’s languid sun and rain

When all the world is on the wane!

Which has not felt the sweet constraint of June,

Nor heard the nightingale in tune.

Broad-faced asters by my garden walk,

You are but coarse compared with roses:

More choice, more dear that rosebud which uncloses,

Faint-scented, pinched, upon its stalk,

That least and last which cold winds balk;

A rose it is though least and last of all,

A rose to me though at the fall.

The Rose and the Tall Dark Tree

Once bloomed a rose so young and fair

With dark brown eyes and long black hair



Beside her be a tall dark tree

Whose branches stretch to smother thee



Too close beside the shadowy bark

That soon begins to leave its mark



She cries for help, but none shall hear

Her thorns too sharp, who’d dare go near?



To save this rose, who’d risk their life?

With naught to gain but pain and strife



Alone, afraid, she lays to rest

Her heart beats low inside her chest



And with the hour growing near

She sheds her final grieving tear



And so the rose soon falls asunder

Her final day, eternal slumber



She lies beside the old dark tree

The only one who mourns for thee.



                             Nina Hernandez, 2010

A Little Budding Rose

Powerhouse - a MiniFlora Rose

It was a little budding rose,

Round like a fairy globe,

And shyly did its leaves unclose

Hid in their mossy robe,

But sweet was the slight and spicy smell

It breathed from its heart invisible.



The rose is blasted, withered, blighted,

Its root has felt a worm,

And like a heart beloved and slighted,

Failed, faded, shrunk its form.

Bud of beauty, bonnie flower,

I stole thee from thy natal bower.



I was the worm that withered thee,

Thy tears of dew all fell for me;

Leaf and stalk and rose are gone,

Exile earth they died upon,

Yes, that last breath of balmy scent

With alien breezes sadly blent!

                                                Emily Bronte

                                                1818-1848